Red Stripe Beer Festival in the Middle of May 2014 a success – Beer Festival an Annual Event to stave off Sweet Palcohol

“The Friday night went well. Hundreds came out to support the inaugural beer festival. Patrons were really excited about the samples and also the international beers that were here. There was a lot of entertainment from the different beer booths. Consumers were engaged with the prizes and giveaways, and the interaction with the crowd was awesome”

Brand PR (Public Relations) Manager at Red Stripe, Kamal Powell commenting on the Inaugural Red Stripe Beer Festival

Looks like the local Beer Industry in Jamaica controlled by the Beer Barons from Diageo is safe from Palcohol! This as from their account, their Red Stripe Beer Festival was a resounding success, with plans afoot to make this an annual event as stated in “Beer festival success sparks annual plans”, Published Monday May 26, 2014, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Take a gander at the pictures from their official Red Stripe Facebook Page, as it tells a better story than my words can describe. Please note, you have to be a friend of mine on Facebook or join Red Stripe Facebook Page to see this.

Post by Red Stripe Jamaica.

Red Stripe is deathly afraid of Palcohol and other powdered alcoholic alternatives taking away their market. To this end, the Red Stripe Beer Festival, held for the first time at the Barbican Beach Bar and Grill on Barbican Road in Kingston, went all out in its targeted approach towards wooing Millennials (ages 18 to 28).

Aside from the flavoured versions of Red Stripe as mentioned in my blog article entitled “Red Stripe Beer Festival in the Middle of May 2014 – Weirdness Level off the Chart means Palcohol has Red Stripe sweating but Long Hair Hide it”, they also featured the 1 Litre Red Stripe along with its companion, the 1 Litre Guinness.

Red Stripe has their work cut out for them for the next few years; if the DNews Video is to be believed, that “mad frenzy” will be coming to Jamaica once the price for this product comes within the reach of the regular consumer. Once it starts to be sold over-the-counter in liquor stores in the length and breadth of Jamaica, Red Stripe will be facing certain extinction!

Red Stripe worried about evolving Beer Market – Beer Festival an Annual Event to prevent the inevitable

Red Stripe clearly is fearful of something and it’s not just the sagging demand for Red Stripe Beer. Even at the event, it was clear that many patrons had a taste for the sweet and savoury, preferring other Imported Brewed brands that Diageo carried such as Heineken, Smirnoff Ice and Guinness as they're more for these sweeter beverages and less in tune with the Red Stripe of their Grandparents time.

Then again they're Uptowners; supposedly, for them EVERYTHING has to taste of a flavour of a fruit or sugar for it to be nice to their sense that are mainly excited by sweet instead of gradually acquiring a love for the bitter flavour of or Local Brewed Product Red Stripe.

The popularity of the 1 Litre Red Stripe suggests that it's more seen as a chaser than a brewed product in itself, as I often use Red Stripe whenever I'm cooking to add flavour to Rice and Peas or even Stewed Chicken as a replacement for water. Most likely this may be the interest in Red Stripe, as it's a cheaper alternative to a bottle of Wine for use in cooking or general consumption, as a good vintage will set you back at least JA$5000.

All this should worry Red Stripe. That suggests Palcohol and other variants with their portability advantage and flavor are a better fit to the experimenting Millennials who love bright coloured, sweet tasting drinks that are alcoholic and don’t wanna be limited by what’s in the Bottle. I just hope they don’t discover Butt-chugging, otherwise Palcohol will be labeled as an addictive drug on the same level as Ecstacy!

Red Stripe has no choice but to make this an annual affair, according to the upbeat tone of Brand PR (Public Relations) Manager at Red Stripe, Kamal Powell, quote: “Everybody is excited about the overall beer festival package, so it's something we are looking forward to for next year. The vision we have for beer festival is that it will become a new destination for beer lovers. From a national perspective, we have been looking to rebuild Kingston as a tourist destination and the Red Stripe Beer Festival will be one of those activities in Kingston that will definitely drive consumers from around the world to experience the festival”.

It’ll be interesting to see how this all pans out. I’d hope to see some statistics to indicate that Palcohol will result in a decline in Red Stripe Beer consumption. So rest assured a follow-up will be coming the next time this Red Stripe Beer Festival is held. In the meantime join the official Red Stripe Facebook Page and the Red Stripe Twitter Page to hear their side of the story!