News from Britain

Robin Millard reporting from London for AFP writes: "While Britain is in the grip of a recession and its world-famous pubs are closing at an estimated rate of 52 per week, the traditional craft beer industry is celebrating its annual bash in a cheery mood. Despite a poor year for the pub and brewing industries, cask ale sales performed comparatively well, dipping by 1.3 per cent, compared to 8 per cent for the total beer market. Meanwhile The Society of Independent Brewers estimates its members' sales are growing by 10 to 11 per cent a year. About 60,000 beer lovers were expected to attend the event organised by CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, which was founded in 1971 and has just passed the 100,000-member mark. As well as fighting the incoming lager tide, CAMRA is fighting high pub prices, pub closures, beer taxes and the dominance of global brands. 'The good news is that real ale brewers are doing very well and some companies have been reporting double-digit growth,'' CAMRA chief executive Mike Benner said. 'There's a real, genuine move by consumers back to local products and people are looking for drinks with provenance that actually mean something to them. Consumers are getting fed up with having these huge, global, over-marketed brands shoved down their throats.' ''