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& Woodhouse we thought would be a great entry point for people coming into the craft category for the first time ,” Giles explains . “ Some craft beers can be hard to ‘ decode ,’ so we implemented very clear , consistent branding and product information to communicate to consumers exactly what they are buying at a glance . Of course , the legacy of Badger Beers being a mainstream , but unpretentious brand helped to instill trust in Outland ’ s products .
“ We ’ ve grown Outland to 2500 stocking points across the UK grocery sector , and while building the Outland brand , we also completed a full refresh of the Badger Beers brand to modernize the packaging . Branding and clear communication is key ; we lightly reworked one of our older recipes into the West Coast IPA and with simpler , craftoriented branding and clear communication of style , ABV , and tasting notes , we saw an impressive 38 percent increase in sales .
“ We ’ ve also just launched an Indian Pale Lager , which is a union of lager and IPA , offering both the clean characteristics of lager with an IPA ’ s hop classic forward flavors . While it has been a hectic 18 months , we are incredibly proud and excited about these achievements , which have been marked by a myriad of industry awards . These include the World Beer Award gold medals for Outland Ginger Pale Ale and Milk Stout , and Badger ’ s Golden Champion and Cranborne Poacher . We ’ ve also received a Grocer Gold Award nomination for Dinks Brand of the Year , as well as being nominated as the Design & Packaging Supreme Champion at the International Beer Challenge .”
an agile , yet long-term focus ,” he suggests . “ This speaks to our ethos of making people ’ s days and enriching our community from generation to generation . The family are still very much involved in the business ; Anthony Woodhouse acts as Chairman and his brother Mark Woodhouse still travels across the country to train our in-house teams and get them enthused about our products .
“ The business created long-term commercial , team , sustainability , and growth targets for 2027 , which we call BHAGs , big hairy audacious goals , some of which we ’ ve achieved already , such as becoming a Times Top 100 medium sized employer ,” Giles concludes . “ We ’ re currently preparing for a year of consolidation and growth of the Outland brand in 2025 . Behind the scenes , we ’ re gearing up for a huge celebration in 2027 to mark our 250th anniversary . We ’ ve created a unique beer in honor of an important individual in our history each year , with the final year occurring in 2027 , when all five special brews will be available as collectors ’ items .” ■
Long-term targets
As our conversation draws to a close , Giles reflects on the company ’ s family heritage and shares plans for the future , including its 250th anniversary celebrations . “ We ’ re currently led by the seventh generation of the Woodhouse family , which enables us to maintain independence and operate with www . hall-woodhouse . co . uk
Giles Mountford
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