'Exclusivity'

Now, as you're aware i'm not one to have a rant.....ok that's a lie, here's a rant.

I got a bit angry this morning when a brewer who is trying to break into the London market told me that he had a 'gentleman's agreement' with another wholesaler. Previously i had contacted him about putting the brewery on our wholesale list and he'd been quite open to it. Now this.

Personally, i never ask for exclusivity on a brewery; why? because i think it's unfair to the brewer to restrict their trade in a city the size of London. Also we don't supply every bar, pub, hotel or offie in London as we're not the biggest of companies and it would be unrealistic to try. I find that wholesalers and indeed bars who do want exclusivity are a bit small minded and not really looking after the customers best interests. Breweries that do so are cutting their nose off to spite their face by showing such a lack of foresight.

Also, don't tell me one thing, one week and something else literally two weeks later! It's bollocks, it's stupid and it's bad for your reputation!

Exclusivity is one of the reasons we don't stock one of Britain's best breweries very often and one we get asked for a lot at wholesale and retail and no i won't name them because despite their decision to go with one wholesaler they are still nice people.

Thankfully instances like this are few and far between but it does make me glad i'm getting out of the business, at least for a little while.

Rant over.