It’s cheers to the success of skinny beers
ASTOCKPORT sportsman is raising a glass after his skinny beer business has really taken off.
Tom Bell launched SkinnyBooze in 2013 – one of the first UK alcohol distributors to focus on keeping the calorie count down.
The 28-year-old said: “After game day, each week the rugby team and I would celebrate by heading to the pub.
“Unfortunately, thanks to the hidden calories associated with alcohol, come Monday, all of the training of the previous week was undone and we were all back to square one.
“To break this cycle, I researched the market to try and identify a lower calorie alternative. To my surprise, I couldn’t find any suppliers in the UK.
“Realising a gap in the market, I began importing alcohol with fewer calories and distributing it throughout the UK.
“It wasn’t long before we developed the expertise to develop our own range of skinny alcohol.”
The business has since doubled in size year-onyear and the entrepreneur credits growth to his unusual approach to storage.
“SkinnyBooze began life in my garage in Cheadle,” Tom said.
“However, the business soon took off and I realised that I needed to search for larger premises.
“Unfortunately, the majority of places I looked at simply didn’t suit, until I discovered self-storage.
“Accessible at all times, reasonably priced and equipped with helpful staff, it seemed like the perfect fit.
“Now, I store all of my stock in an 800 sq ft self storage unit at Apex Self Storage.
“This has enabled us to have retail and wholesale customers across Europe, while SkinnyBrands outsources to a number of leading manufacturers across the UK, to then distribute this innovative product range globally.”
The 330ml bottle contains just 89 calories, compared with around 120 in a typical lager.
It’s also lower in sugar, with just 1.3g compared with other brands.
Unlike other low-calorie alcohols, the lager is full strength at 4% ABV thanks to a brewing process which allows residual sugars to be extracted.
Founder Tom said: “Now, whether you’re on a diet, have an intolerance or want to live a healthier lifestyle, you can pick up either Skinny Lager or Skinny Cocktails in stores or online.”