Revenues were up by around 30% at last month’s 14th Schtroumpf Beer Festival, according to the restaurant chain’s operations manager, Maroun Daou. But anyone heading to the festival in the hopes of sampling a wide array of beers would have been disappointed. This year, only Almaza, the sponsor, was present at the event, making it rather bizarrely a one-beer, beer festival. At least Almaza was happy. Sales at the event rose by 50% compared to last year, thanks also in part to a LL12,000 drink-all-you-can offer, according to Almaza Brand Manager Naji Nacouzi.
“The beer festival should invite all the other players in the market,” said Nacouzi. “However for two years now Almaza has been sponsoring the festival without the presence of other players. Maybe they don’t like the prominence and visibility of our brand.”
The absence of other beers might be a reflected of the local dominance of Almaza, which was bought by Heineken in 2003. “We used to have a lot of brands. A few years ago we had about eight beers, but now they believe there is no competition anymore. They see only Heineken and Almaza. So they are no longer spending money on such festivals,” said Daou.
Abdou Younes, marketing director of Abi Ramigh Bros., the company that imports Effes, Fosters and Budweiser, said the company ceased participating in the festival two years ago with Budweiser because Schtroumpf only embraced the brand during the festival and shunned it for the rest of the year.
“They don’t contact us until the festival. But outside the festival, they don’t want to put our brand or any other brands on their premises. They only contact us when they need something.,” Younes complained.
In an attempt to chip away at the Almaza/Heineken market share Abi Ramigh Bros. Spends around $375,000 on marketing and while it did not take part in the beer festival, it does sponsor motor sport events.
