Beer sales in Scotland fell as Tartan Army travelled to Germany

BEER sales in Scotland fell while the Tartan Army travelled to Germany, it has been revealed.

Around 200,000 Scots flocked to Germany during the summer for the Euros, marking Scotland’s first tournament outside the UK for the men’s team since the 1998 World Cup.

Headlines across Germany piled on praise for the Tartan Army, as even the police thanked fans for creating a “special atmosphere”.

Yet whilst fans were away from home turf, beer sales fell – with Tennent’s reporting its volumes dropped by more than 9% across the summer.

READ MORE: 'You are always welcome back': Mayor of Cologne heaps praise on Tartan Arm​y

Ralph Findlay, the chairman and chief executive of C&C Group, which owns Tennent’s, said he was initially surprised by the effect the tournament had on Scottish sales.

Findlay acknowledged that the relatively damp weather and weaker consumer confidence were likely to have played a part, but believed there was no doubt that the vast numbers of people travelling to Germany “had a temporary impact on the market”.

C&C Group’s financial results for the six months to the end of August showed pre-tax profit was relatively flat at €28.6 million after improved margins helped offset a near €18m decline in net revenue to €861.4m.

Findlay, who previously ran the pub group Marston’s, said: “If I look at how we’d been trading in Tennent’s up until the tournament each month we were generally speaking ahead of last year.

“And then July came and roughly 200,000 people went across to Germany.

“We definitely saw that in the numbers and saw that dip in that period. It certainly came back but it was a difficult time.”

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Findlay said Tennent’s had grown its market share by five percentage points during the 10 weeks to August 10 and said there had been investment behind the brand as an official sponsor of the Scottish men’s team.

Tennent’s volumes dropped by 7% , which was slightly better than the wider market.

The Scotland team won just one point during the tournament, from the 1-1 draw with Switzerland in Cologne on June 19.

Yet despite the poor result, Tartan Army fans were voted the best supporters at the Euros.

German media outlet RTL said 52% of people believed Scots were the best fans, with Germany receiving 11% of the votes, Albania 5%, Croatia 4% and Italy 2%.