Edinburgh sour beer maker cheers huge Tesco deal as turnover tops £3 million

An Edinburgh-based craft brewer with a growing reputation for its range of sour beers has secured a bumper order with the UK’s largest retailer as turnover heads north of £3 million.

Vault City Brewing’s four-packs of its strawberry and peach beers will now be available in 650 Tesco stores across the UK. Details of the deal came as the brewer said it had quadrupled production capacity and seen its turnover pass £3m - an almost 50 per cent increase, year on year.

Founder Steven Smith-Hay said he was optimistic for the next 12 months, fuelled by supermarkets’ desire to diversify their alcohol ranges as well as interest from overseas. He said: “As a small, independent craft brewer, we’re so proud to see our product stocked on the shelves in so many different Tesco supermarkets up and down the UK. We’re still a small team and it gives all of us so much faith in our product and all the hard work we put in to have landed such a significant deal. Tesco’s investment in our strawberry and peach sour beer proves the appetite for craft beer across the country continues to grow. This is a huge opportunity to get Vault City into the hands of lots more people.”

The firm, which specialises in heavily fruited, modern sour beers, has already switched to a four-day working week. “The last 12 months has been a significant period of growth for the business and we firmly believe the four-day work week played a huge part in that,” added Smith-Hay, who launched Vault City in 2018.