Brexit: Tenterden brewery says new export rules have hit sales

Industry experts say it can now cost £400 to export 12 bottles of beer to the EU

A Kent brewery says it has seen a 95% drop in export sales since the UK left the EU.

The Old Dairy Brewery in Tenterden says extra paperwork, customs checks and transport rules are to blame.

A body which represents beer exporters says export costs are now so high, small breweries cannot even afford to send samples to trade fairs.

The government said its export strategy will help small companies sell abroad through free trade deals.

Virginia Hodge, export manager at the Old Dairy Brewery, said: "They say that Brexit has been done.

"It may have been done, but there's no solutions to these scenarios," she said.

"How do I get my samples to a trade show? How do I get my samples to importers?

"There's no solutions to these critical barriers for us to export our beer."

The Old Dairy Brewery says it has lost nearly all its export trade since Brexit

Ruth Evans, chief executive officer of the Brewing, Food and Beverage Industries Supply Association, said the extra paperwork and cost involved was damaging, even for product promotion.

"There doesn't seem to be any process yet for samples going to trade shows.

"Say you just wanted to send 12 bottles of beer to a potential distributor as a sample, there's no process there, and so it can cost £400 for 12 bottles of beer to go over into Europe."

The Old Dairy is working with other small breweries to share the extra costs

The Old Dairy said it was talking to other small breweries in an effort to form a collective to share the costs.

Ms Hodge, said: "You [can] consolidate the orders here, one shipment, one customs declaration, one load of red tape, and then the customer in the EU has got a larger range of British beers."

Minister for exports Andrew Griffith said: "We know businesses have had to get to grips with new rules post-Brexit.

"Through our Export Support Service and Export Academy, we are helping more businesses across the country seize new opportunities in the world's fastest growing markets, and our export strategy is giving businesses the tools they need to become a nation of exporters and reap the benefits of our free trade deals."

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