Industry | Brewing |
---|---|
Predecessor | J. & R. Tennent |
Founded | 1740 |
Founder | Hugh and Robert Tennent |
Headquarters | Glasgow, Scotland |
Products | Beer |
Parent | C&C Group plc |
Website | www |
Tennent Caledonian is a brewing company based in Glasgow, Scotland.
It was founded in 1740 on the bank of the Molendinar Burn by Hugh and Robert Tennent. [1] It is owned by C&C Group plc, which purchased the Tennent Caledonian Breweries subsidiary in 2009, [2] from Belgian brewing company Anheuser-Busch InBev (formerly known as InBev). [3]
The company produces Tennent's Lager, Scotland's market leading brand of pale lager, first brewed at the Wellpark Brewery in 1885.
Wellpark Brewery was originally known as the Drygate Brewery. It was founded as H. & R. Tennent in 1740 at Drygate Bridge, near Glasgow Cathedral, by Hugh and Robert Tennent, although brewing had taken place at the same site on the banks of the Molendinar Burn by their ancestor, Robert Tennent, since 1556, making it the oldest continuous commercial concern in Glasgow.
Hugh Tennent's sons, John and Robert, continued the family business, trading as J. & R. Tennent from 1769. The business expanded in the 1790s when the Tennent family purchased the neighbouring brewery of William McLehose, and renamed the 5-acre (20,000 m2) site Wellpark Brewery. [4]
The firm originally brewed stout and strong export ales. By the mid-19th century, J. & R. Tennent was the world's largest bottled beer exporter. Robert Tennent died in 1826 and John Tennent in 1827. Hugh Tennent (the eldest son of Robert) then assumed control of the business. Hugh Tennent retired in 1855 with his fifth son, Charles Tennent, taking over, but he died in 1864, some months before his father. The brewery was subsequently operated by trustees on behalf of Charles Tennent's sons, Archibald and Hugh.
In 1884, Hugh Tennent took control of the company and first brewed Tennent's lager in 1885. He later built a new lager brewery on the Wellpark site, which was begun in 1889 and completed in 1891. J. & R. Tennent produced the first draught lager in 1924, the first canned lager in 1935 and the first keg lager in 1963.
J. & R. Tennent was acquired by Charrington United Breweries in 1963, and in 1966 formally merged with United Caledonian Breweries, Charrington's other Scottish subsidiary, to form Tennent Caledonian Breweries. The new company's brewing was concentrated at the Wellpark Brewery and the Heriot Brewery in Edinburgh. Wellpark was redeveloped between 1965 and 1968, but Heriot was demolished in the 1990s. [5] In 1967, Charringtons merged with Bass to form the Bass Charrington Group. It was later bought by the Belgian brewer Interbrew (now InBev) in June 2000, which became part of Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2008.
C&C Group of Ireland announced a deal to buy the brewery and the Tennent's brand from AB-InBev on 27 August 2009. It also agreed to acquire the Scottish and Irish distribution rights to Beck's and Stella Artois as part of the £180 million offer. [6]
In May 2014, C&C Group and Williams Bros Brewing Co. opened a craft brewery joint venture on the site, called Drygate Brewing Co., [7] named after Drygate – a street which adjoins the western perimeter of the brewery.
Tennent's Lager is Scotland's best-selling pale lager, with approximately 60% of the Scottish lager market. [8] The lager was first brewed in 1885 by Hugh Tennent and in 1893 it won the highest award at the Chicago World's Fair. Tennent's Lager is certified by the Vegetarian Society as being suitable for vegetarians. [9]
The lager was once famous for the design of its cans, which featured photos of various female models printed onto the side, known affectionately as "The Lager Lovelies". This feature was used by Tennent's up until the final campaign in 1989. Today, authentic original Lager Lovely cans are sought after among collectors. The can design is now a plain yellow colour, with the company's trademark large red "T" featuring prominently. A banner heads the can, reading: "Scotland's favourite beer, only ever brewed at Wellpark Brewery, Glasgow".
The brand's super strength lager, Tennent's Super (9% ABV), is no longer produced by Wellpark and is produced in Luton by Inbev, who kept the brand after the sale of Wellpark to C&C.
Caledonia Best was launched in November 2011, and uses 100% Scottish barley. [10]
Contract-brewed for Innis & Gunn
The Tennent's brand is used for sponsoring music and sport; this included Scotland's largest outdoor music festival: T in the Park from 1994 to 2016. Tennent's previously sponsored T On The Fringe (part of the Edinburgh Festival), Triptych and Tennents ViTal in Northern Ireland. Tennent's sponsorship of T in the Park is continuing in the wake of its acquisition by C&C Group. [11]
In football, the brand has been used to sponsor Scottish Futsal and historically, the Scottish Cup for 18 years and the FA Charity Shield from 1989 to 1992, Tennents' Sixes and the Tennent's UK Snooker Championship even so the latter was held at the time in Preston in England. Tennent's also previously sponsored the Scotland national football team, replacing supermarket chain Morrisons. This deal was signed on 3 October 2006 and came into effect in time for the European Championship qualifying victory against France on 7 October 2006. This sponsorship came to an end on 24 May 2010.
Tennents sponsored Scottish football's "Old Firm" duo, Celtic and Rangers from 2010 until 2013 following their contracts with Carling expired at the end of previous season. Also, from 2010 to 2012 they sponsored EFL League One club Preston North End. [12] It is the current sponsor of the Irish Cup football competition in Northern Ireland.
Foster's Lager is an internationally distributed brand of Australian lager. It is owned by the Japanese brewing group Asahi Group Holdings, and is brewed under licence in a number of countries, including its biggest market, the UK, where the European rights to the brand are owned by Heineken International.
Labatt Brewing Company Limited is a Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned brewery headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1847, Labatt is the largest brewer in Canada.
Stella Artois is a pilsner beer, first brewed in 1926 by Brouwerij Artois in Leuven, Belgium. In its original form, the beer is 5.2 per cent ABV, the country's standard for pilsners. The beer is also sold in other countries including the UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia, where it has a reduced ABV. Stella Artois is owned by Interbrew International B.V. which is a subsidiary of the world's largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV.
Koninklijke Grolsch N.V., known simply as Grolsch, is a Dutch brewery founded in 1615 by Willem Neerfeldt in Groenlo. In 1895, the de Groen family bought the brewery. They had started their own brewery in Enschede in the early 19th century and held a significant stake until 2007. Today the main brewery is in Enschede.
Foster's Group Pty. Ltd. was an Australian beer group with interests in brewing and soft drinks, known for Foster's Lager, now called Carlton & United Breweries since the company was renamed in 2011. Foster's was founded in 1888 in Melbourne, Victoria by two American brothers, who sold the brewery a year later.
Bass Brewery was founded in 1777 by William Bass in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The main brand was Bass Pale Ale, once the highest-selling beer in the UK. By 1877, Bass had become the largest brewery in the world, with an annual output of one million barrels. Its pale ale was exported throughout the British Empire, and the company's red triangle became the UK's first registered trade mark.
Castle Brewery is one of the oldest commercial breweries in South Africa. As company-endorsed legend would have it, the company was founded by Charles Glass in Johannesburg in 1894. UCT history professor Anne Kelk Mager has argued that the official SAB story overemphasized the role of Charles and that it was his wife Lisa Glass who was primarily responsible for the creation of Castle. It later merged with other breweries to form South African Breweries, which still later merged with Miller of the United States to form SABMiller.
Innis & Gunn is a British brewery based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 2003 by brewer Dougal Gunn Sharp.
Castle Lager is a South African pale lager. It is the flagship product of South African Breweries and has been recognised as the National Beer of South Africa, based on the fact that it is 100% grown and produced in the country.
Grupo Modelo is a large brewery in Mexico that exports beer to most countries of the world. Its export brands include Corona, Modelo, and Pacífico. Grupo Modelo also brews brands that are intended solely for the domestic Mexican market and has exclusive rights in Mexico for the import and distribution of beer produced by Anheuser-Busch. Until the 1960s, Grupo Modelo used red poppy flowers in most of its advertising.
Piedboeuf Brewery is a brewery in Jupille-sur-Meuse, Belgium. It is owned by Anheuser–Busch InBev. The main brand is Jupiler, the best selling beer in Belgium.
Hugh Tennent Tennent was a Scottish brewer, the great-great-grandson of the founder of the Wellpark Brewery now known as the Tennent's brewery. He began production of Tennent's lager in 1885, having acquired his brother's share of the business a year earlier.
Dommelsch Brewery is a brewery founded in 1744 in the village of Dommelen, Netherlands. It is part of the Anheuser-Busch InBev group, and brews Dommelsch Pilsener for the Dutch market.
Oriental Brewery or OB is a South Korean brewery currently owned by AB InBev, and initially founded by Doosan Group.
Budweiser Budvar is a brewery in the Czech city of České Budějovice, best known for its original Budweiser or Budweiser Budvar pale lager brewed using artesian water, Moravian barley and Saaz hops. Budweiser Budvar is the fourth largest beer producer in the Czech Republic and the second largest exporter of beer abroad.
SABMiller was one of the top five global brewing companies, and had a range of over 150 beers, including international beers such as Pilsner Urquell, and Miller Genuine Draft, and local ones such as Gambrinus and Castle Milk Stout.
InBev was a brewing company that resulted from the merger between Belgium-based company Interbrew and Brazilian brewer AmBev which took place in 2004. It existed independently until the acquisition of Anheuser-Busch in 2008, which formed Anheuser-Busch InBev. InBev had operations in over 30 countries and sales in over 130 countries. In 2006, it had a market capitalization of €30.6 billion and net profit of €3.2 billion on sales of €13.3 billion.
Jupiler is a Belgian beer introduced in 1966, now brewed by Anheuser–Busch InBev at Piedboeuf Brewery in the Jupille-sur-Meuse neighbourhood of Liège. Jupiler is the highest selling beer in Belgium, with around 40 percent share by volume.
Anheuser-Busch, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, is the largest brewing company in the United States, with a market share of 45 percent in 2016.
Chernihivske is a brand of lager beer produced in Ukraine. It originates from the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv. The beer was brewed for the first time as a gift to celebrate the 1,300th anniversary of the city in 1988.
55°51′36″N4°13′51″W / 55.8601°N 4.2307°W