London Pride ale gets warm welcome

THE brewer of London Pride beer, Fuller Smith & Turner, which started exporting its beer to Hong Kong in June, is getting an enthusiastic response in the territory.

The Prince of Wales barracks and some English-style bars and pubs in Hong Kong have welcomed the beer, which is on sale at about $36 a pint of draught. The beer is also sold in cans.

''Ours is a niche product which people look for. Our beer is an ale rather than a lager, which appeals to the British taste and also to some Americans,'' says chairman Anthony Fuller, who is on his first official visit to Hong Kong to meet agents and importers of Fuller's beer.

Once the beer has found a base in Hong Kong, the brewer, which is named on London's Unlisted Securities Market, plans to look for further markets in the East, including China.

''Obviously, when China opens up it will provide exciting possibilities,'' Mr Fuller said, adding that he had already started negotiating on the possibility of exporting the beer to the mainland.

He also has plans for the Singapore market because of the many British living there.