New Planet brewery, which is in and only sells to Colorado at the moment, has just completed a customer survey. You will not be surprised, I don’t believe, by what they were told.
The biggest answer is, it is all about taste! This is not just something that New Planet has been told, but Joe Lipa, National Sales Manager for Merchant du Vin (MDV) has also heard from customers that most Gluten Free Beer drinkers want their beer to taste like the beers they were use to before going gluten free. Both New Planet and MDV are committed to this (MDV is the importer that brings us Green’s). In New Planets survey, over two-thirds said it was all about taste. We aren’t willing to sacrifice taste for gluten free, we would rather do without is the general consensus.
For New Planet, here are some of the important points about their offerings:
* Superior Taste
* Refreshing
* Local
* Sustainable
* Tastes like beer
* And Fun!
Another thing that New Planet has found is that your word of mouth is one of the most important factors in people knowing they exist. This is true for all Gluten Free Beers and is one of the motivating factors for this Association. Not only do we need to share with each other what beers are available, we need to let the industry know how strong we are. How do we let them know how strong we are, by adding your name to this Association’s mailing list and completing our survey. The more people that are on the list and the more surveys we have filled out, the more the brewing and distributing industry will listen. I know of several breweries that are no longer making a Gluten Free Beer because of lack of demand. I don’t believe it is lack of demand, it is either that not enough of us knew they existed or it simply was not a good beer. This Association is how brewers and distributors can insure that we know they are available. Word of mouth is the most effective form of advertising and information for us today, add your voice to this word of mouth Association. 
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