Beer keg theft costs industry £30m
A total of 400,000 beer kegs were stolen in 2007, costing the brewery industry £30 million.
A total of 400,000 beer kegs were stolen in 2007, costing the brewery industry £30 million.
It is believed that the majority of stolen kegs, which hold a value of £75 each, are being sent to China where there is a severe shortage of stainless-steel.
Empty beer kegs hold no monetary value for licensees and are more than often stored insecurely and easily targeted by thieves, said Ruth Evans, chief executive of the Brewery, Food and Beverage Industry Suppliers Association (BFBI).
The cost of stainless-steel is at an all-time world high due to an enormous global shortage.
Stolen kegs are chopped into many pieces and sold to unsuspecting scrap merchants.
Although the largest scrap dealers have measures in place to identify stolen materials, beer kegs remain undetected when broken down into so many pieces, said Ms Evans.
Chinas booming economy is in desperate need of stainless-steel, so kegs are sent there where the stainless steel can be re-smelt and transformed into whatever the metal is needed for.
Although a keg tagging scheme was introduced in the past, it proved hugely unsuccessful due to the secondary wholesale that exists between licensees.
Many kegs can become lost in the supply chain when licensees sell beer they have already purchased to other licensees, explained Ms Evans.
It is not an illegal practice but it is unsupervised and means kegs cannot be tracked. Some individuals believe that lost kegs in the supply chain is as much an issue as keg theft.
Ms Evans hopes a soon to be launched deposit scheme will educate and incentivise licensees to safeguard and secure empty kegs.
The same issue exists for gas bottles. Ms Evans added that licensees secure full gas bottles, but not the empties, which can be sold for £50. We believe the loss of gas bottles is very much linked to organised crime, she said.
Doug Thornton from the British Compressed Gas Association (BCGA) said around 1.2 million gas cylinders are used in the brewery industry and theft is an ongoing issue.