Leave SIBA or simply Don’t join!

One of our most popular tweets ever has been this one which is us saying we are no longer members of SIBA. So I thought i would put the transcript here so it doesn’t just fall off the twitter timeline and can be Googled easier. I’ve added a few notes too.

We are officially no longer SIBA members #LeaveSIBA One reason is too much contradiction between them saying they support a fair price for beer then unreservedly supporting and promoting massively discounted beer in Wetherspoons. (Simply to promote their ‘Assured Independent Craft Brewer’ Logo (Waste of time))

 

SIBA beer festivals / competitions have too great of a caveat with the request for Free Beer and then penalties if you are a small brewer with limited staffing and cannot supply volunteers. (Sounds like a load of balls if you ask me)

 

SIBA’s DDS/Beerflex has never seemed appealing with the entry costs being too high, the prices paid for beer being too low and an ever decreasing base of tied pubs (being turned into Tesco and ASDA! or Landlords being priced out of business)

 

We also thought that their Discounted Beermat offer would have been cheaper than dealing direct wit the printer but its exactly the same so not really a discount offer at all.

 

The SIBA membership is obviously too busy making good beer to get involved and change SIBA for the better so that leaves the bigger brewers to take control and steer the organisation and its aims away from the benefit of the small brewer.

 

SIBA is too closely in bed with Tied Pubcos and the likes of *Heineken to be focused on small brewers or championing a Fully Freehouse Pub culture in the UK. *Starpubs were the main sponsor of SIBA’s BeerX!

 

SIBA is all about paying out your hard earned cash and selling cheap beer, its a Trade Body where the aim is to sell beer to the lowest bidder! Then be controlled by that bidder to pressure prices even further. (Sounds fair right?)

 

I read thought the FSQ check list and thought, “well, we do most of this anyway” without paying £300 a year. And its ONLY useful (required) for selling via siba! (If you want a worthwhile accreditation it is better to do more and pay more with something like ‘SALSA for Beer’ which will allow you to be positioned better to access supermarkets, if that is your thing)

I knew we weren’t going to get along from our very first SIBA meeting in Leeds, its really not me, its you 😉

Its high time there was a trade body that fully supported and represented the smaller brewers of the UK because its simply not SIBA anymore! If you are a member of SIBA and you see the things above, as I do, I would urge you to cancel your membership when its renewal date comes around, ask yourself, “Have I gained anything from being a SIBA member?” If you are a new brewer or a brewer that is pondering joining SIBA then don’t bother.
We need a trade body that will support all small brewers & Landlords and fight for a fully free of tie beer system in the UK.