How to sell beer to pubs (and cider, spirits and soft drinks)

Updated 2 November 2026 · DELLI

To sell beer to pubs, start with free houses, which choose their own suppliers, and get your beer listed with the drinks wholesalers that pubs already order from. Then give the landlord or bar manager reasons to try it: a beer that fills a gap on their bar, a price that works per pint, samples for the team, and a pump clip that sells it from across the room. This guide covers how to sell beer to pubs step by step, and the same approach works for cider, spirits and soft drinks.

1. Tied pubs and free houses: who can buy from you?

Before you pitch a pub, find out who decides what it buys.

Selling to free houses

Start with free houses, because the person behind the bar can say yes. Build a list of free houses within your delivery range. Look for pubs that already rotate guest beers, list local producers on their boards or menus, or post about new drinks on social media. Those pubs are looking for what you make.

Tied pubs

A tied pub must buy some or all of its drinks from the pub company that owns or leases it. Ask the landlord what the tie covers. If it covers beer but not spirits or soft drinks, a gin or a tonic may still get in. If it covers everything, the pub company's buyers decide, so you would need to approach the pub company instead.

2. How to sell beer to pubs through drinks wholesalers

Many pubs buy through drinks wholesalers, who deliver a range of beers, ciders, spirits and soft drinks in one drop. A wholesaler listing puts you in front of pubs you can't reach or deliver to yourself, and makes ordering you easy for a pub that already buys from that wholesaler.

• Ask your pubs who they buy through. Every landlord who stocks you can name their wholesalers. Names that come up more than once are your shortlist.
• Price for their margin. The wholesaler needs its own margin, and the pub still needs a price per serve that works. Our guide on how to price a food or drink product shows how to work out the lowest price you can accept.
• Keep your local pubs direct. Agree with the wholesaler which pubs you supply yourself, and charge them the same price the wholesaler would.

Beer, cider, spirits and soft drinks are standard-rated for VAT at 20%. Quote trade prices excluding VAT and say so on your price list.

3. How to sell drinks to pubs: what landlords care about

A landlord or bar manager has limited lines, fridge space and back bar. A new drink has to earn its place against what is already there. Answer these questions before they ask.

Does it fit the bar?

Look at what they pour now. A pub with three pale ales on cask may want a dark beer. A pub with one local gin may not want a second. Pitch the drink that fills a gap, and say which gap.

Will it sell?

Name other pubs that stock you and how fast it goes there. If a local pub has reordered every two weeks since spring, say so. If you're new, offer a trial: one cask, one keg or one case, with no commitment to reorder.

What does it cost per serve?

Landlords think in pints, measures and bottles. Give the price per container and the price per serve, so they can check it against their own pricing.

Can you supply it reliably?

Tell them your delivery days, lead time, minimum order and how they order. For cask and keg beer, say how you handle empty casks and kegs coming back. A beer that runs out with no replacement for three weeks loses its line.

Is there a story the staff can tell?

"Brewed four miles away, at the farm on the Bath road" is something bar staff can say when a customer asks what's new. Give them one line about who you are and where you make it.

4. Samples and tastings

• Visit at a quiet time. Mid-afternoon on a weekday, never during a busy lunch or a Friday evening. Ask before you open your bag.
• Bring enough for the team. Bar staff who like it will recommend it. Bring cans or bottles of your beer, or a sample bottle of your spirit with the mixer and garnish you'd serve it with.
• Leave the details. Your price list with prices per serve, delivery days, minimum order, and how to order.
• Offer a launch night. A meet-the-maker evening or a tasting at the bar gives the pub a reason to post about you and gives customers a reason to try it.
• Follow up after the first cask or case. Ask how fast it went and what customers said, and offer the next order before they run out.

5. Pump clips, serve and the bar

Once your drink is on the bar, it has to sell itself to customers who have never heard of you. What you supply with it decides how it looks.

A good pump clip does three jobs: it says what the drink is, it stands out next to the clips beside it, and it matches your branding so customers recognise you in the next pub. Send a spare with deliveries in case one goes missing. Drinks over 1.2% ABV must show their alcoholic strength on the label, and putting it on the clip too helps customers choose.

Ask the pub to post when your drink goes on, and share their post. Other landlords may follow local pubs, and a post showing your clip on a bar near them is a reference you didn't have to ask for.

6. How to get your drink in bars: an example pitch email

Write to the landlord or bar manager by name, say why your drink fits their bar, and offer samples. A pub may be run by a sole trader or a partnership, and sole traders and some partnerships need to have consented before you send them marketing email. Check the business type first, or introduce yourself in person. Our guide to writing pitch emails to buyers covers subject lines, follow-ups and the PECR rules.

The same structure works for a cider, a gin or a soft drink: what you saw at the bar, the gap your drink fills, one line of proof, and a small, easy next step. For a cocktail bar, lead with the serve. For a hotel bar, lead with the local story guests ask about.

If there's no reply, follow up once a week or so later, ideally by calling in at a quiet time with a sample.

Questions about selling to pubs

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