Pub and bar operators are being asked to return any empty kegs to their owners, so that they can be cleaned and prepared for when venues are allowed to reopen.
Leading the call is Adam Trippe-Smith, founder and managing director of Konvoy Kegs, who has undertaken a considerable collection blitz in the last fortnight, with only a small amount of kegs unaccounted for.
With the normal logistics of the pick-up of empty kegs being swapped for full kegs no longer taking place, many empty or half-empty kegs have been left unsanitised and languishing within venues or on sidewalks. Trippe-Smith is encouraging operators to get these returned to their providers so that they can be cleaned and prepared for when the shutdown is lifted.
“When the lockdowns occurred, the industry basically received 24-hours notice. One hopes that more notice will be given when the on-premise lockdowns are lifted. If a material portion of the industry’s kegs are still locked in venue when the lockdown is lifted, there will be a long lead time to collect them all, get them back to breweries so that the breweries can clean and sanitise empty kegs, ready to be filled immediately when pubs reopen.
“When pubs, bars and restaurants re-open, there will be huge demand for tap beer (and cider, wine and other draught beverages) which means breweries will need to be ready with empty kegs so they can fill them immediately and send them out to pubs nationally. This is why, as a nation, we need to pick up as many of the countries empty kegs now, so that when we press go, there is an uninterrupted supply of kegged beverages.”
Preparing your draught proposition is just one component of getting your venue ready for re-opening. For more on the subject, read the first in a three-part series from Luke Butler, here.