Independent retailers having the flexibility to work with local suppliers to sell their products is nothing new but Kaual Patel has taken it a step further by creating a lager especially for Nisa Torridon store in London.
Kaual worked with local brewer Brockley Brewery to create Torridon Lager that can only be found in his store.
The idea came about when Kaual renovated his store in 2022 and installed a beer cave, dubbed ‘The Vault’. Wanting to do something special to mark the changes, he and the team at Brockley Brewery worked to create a one-of-a-kind product.
“The first batch was in the pipeline for quite a while and we spent ages working on the design to get it right, incorporating the Vault style. It sold out very quickly because it’s so unique.”
“I don’t think any other convenience store in the UK has their own lager. We love working with local suppliers and keeping business within the community.”
The second batch has just arrived in the store and is already attracting attention. “Between the two batches, we’ve sold around 1,200 cans to date, and I expect the second batch to sell out as well. We keep the prices similar to that of other craft beers - £3.49 per can or three for £9 so it’s quite reasonable as well as being so different.”
Kaual is already looking ahead to the next collaboration and has something different in mind for it.
“We’ll launch a new batch every six months or so to keep things fresh,” he explains. “When we refit, we created a mosaic at the store that was designed by local children so for our next batch, we want to create a beer using the mosaic hop and use the mosaic’s design on the can.”
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