Dramatic rise in Chinese demand for IPA beer
After President Xi Jinping drank a pint of IPA beer on his state visit to the UK, the demand in China for the Greene King’s beer has risen by 1,600%. A shipment of 50,000 will arrive to coincide with Chinese New Year. In addition to a 5.9% rise in pre-tax profits, Greene King’s shares have risen 8.5% to 925p, their highest level since July 2007.

Greene King is shipping 50,000 cases of India pale ale to China following a surge in demand after President Xi Jinping drank a pint of the beer with David Cameron on his state visit to the UK.

The Suffolk brewer said demand for IPA from China had increased by 1,600% after Xi’s visit to Greene King’s pub The Plough at Cadsden in October. He and Cameron drank beer and ate fish and chips at the pub, close to the prime minister’s Chequers country residence.

Beer importers in China reported a spike in demand for IPA after pictures of the pair appeared on social media. The Chinese Communist party liked the image because it is seeking to portray Xi as a man of the people.

Rooney Anand, Greene King’s chief executive, said the order boom coincided with Chinese new year in February. He said: “If the British prime minister chooses to drink IPA that’s normal but if the president of China chooses to drink a certain drink it attracts lots of interest. We’ve had a sixteen-fold increase in orders from China for IPA in the last few weeks and 50,000 cases are on a boat now to arrive in time for Chinese new year.”

Anand said his export team were putting extra effort into building contacts with importers of British beer to China, where the year of the monkey starts on 8 February. Greene King’s beers, which also include Abbot and Old Speckled Hen, mainly go to markets with a longer tradition of drinking British beer, he said. “I’m very hopeful that China will see the merits of English beer and IPA in the same way that they have about red wine.”

In its first half results, the brewer and operator of more than 3,000 pubs reported sales up 2% at its owned pubs and restaurants open a year or more. Pre-tax profit, excluding operations added through its purchase of 1,200 Spirit pubs, rose 5.9% to £87.5m in the 24 weeks to 18 October.

The first-half dividend increased 6.3% to 7.95p a share, and Greene King, based in Bury St Edmunds, increased its estimate for savings from the Spirit acquisition by £5m to £35m.

Greene King shares rose 8.5% to 925p in early trading on Wednesday, their highest since July 2007.