Orchid Group first to launch Red Tractor ale

The Orchid Group is set to become the first pub company in the UK to sell cask ale which has been certified with the Red Tractor logo.

UK brewer, Wells and Young's, has revealed that it has launched its cask ale, Young's Bitter – the first cask ale with Red Tractor certification, in Orchid's carveries.

The Red Tractor certification highlights that the ale has been brewed in the UK using ingredients grown to the very highest standards on farms and has been checked and verified by professional independent inspectors.

The casks are made with 100% natural British ingredients, are reusable and the new lightweight bottles are recyclable.

Sharon Hammond, carveries concept development manager, commented: "We were the very first pub company to become a Red Tractor licensee for all meat across our Carvery estate and believe the scheme has a key role to play in Britain's food and drink industry."

She continued: "Our partnership with Wells and Young's not only reinforces Orchid's pledge to support the Red Tractor scheme and its aim to raise standards right across the food chain but will also increase consumer awareness of the importance of quality assurance."

Chris Lewis, director of marketing, went on to discuss the importance of raising industry standards: "It is incredibly important to us that we work with farmers and suppliers to raise industry standards. We have been impressed with Orchid's commitment to the scheme and it was a natural for us to launch quality assured Young's Bitter with the Group."

Other businesses signing up to the scheme has increased by 50% over the last two years with household names such as Dairy Crest, Nestle Cereal Partners and McCain's which now bear the logo.

Hammond concluded: "We all want to know the food and drink we are busying is safe…There is no doubt that the Red Tractor Scheme is boosting the reputation of UK food and drink production."

Words: Maria Bracken

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