Revelations that one of the UK’s most popular draft lagers isn’t as Spanish as it makes out has sent tremours through pubs nationwide.
Madri has been branded the most successful beer launch in history after making its debut in UK boozers during the hedonistic post-pandemic years of 2021/22.
Karen Albert, the brand director for Premium Beers at Molson Coors, said the refreshing lager delivered the highest-value sales of any alcohol brand in its first year, raking in a whopping £109.3 million in the year it was launched.
It coincided with a general shift towards the ‘Spanish’ lager market in the UK, which has grown by 73 per cent over the past year and now accounts for one in five pints poured in British pubs.
Estrella Damm and San Miguel had been doing steady business for years before Madrì, the self-proclaimed “Soul of Madrid”, appeared, exploding when pubs reopened after lockdown but international flights were still problematic.
If people couldn’t get to Spain, they could at least get a taste of it in the pub, or so people believed.
In reality, they had been lured in by a clever marketing ploy and the cold glass of suds being knocked back gleefully was as Spanish as roast beef and Yorkshire puddings.
Madri was actually invented in Burton-on-Trent by Canadian beer brand Molson Coors and is brewed in Tadcaster, Yorkshire.
Despite claiming to be ‘The Soul of Madrid’ it has the unique honour of being completely unknown in the city it claims to hail from, with lesser-known beer brands such as Mahou and El Águila popular amongst Spanish drinkers.
“Madri is a completely manufactured and invented brand,” Pete Brown, an expert in beer trends and author of ‘Clubland: How the Working Men’s Club Shaped Britain’ told Time Out. “It’s purely a marketing reflex exercise. And it’s probably the best [marketing campaign] we’ve seen since Peroni.”
The ubiquitous red and white packaging fronted by an illustrated hipster in a Peaky-Blinders-style cap is, The Grocer says, “inspired by the “chulapo”, a group of people in Spanish society in the 19th century who were “famous for their vibrant and elaborate style of dress.”
But they’re little more than marketing trickery in this case.
“Turns out Madrí isn’t brewed in a Spanish basement by two guys with a dream. It’s actually owned by one of the biggest boys in the British beer game, right here in the UK. It was created by Molson Coors – the company behind Carling, Coors Light, Pravha and Blue Moon – in collaboration with La Sagra Brewery, a craft firm in Spain that was bought out by Coors in 2017.”
Well blow me down, mi amigo!
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