News brewed on 08/ 01 / 18

Raising the bar: 100% of BrewDog staff achieve ‘Certified Beer Server’ Cicerone qualifications

Independent Scottish brewery, BrewDog has today announced that all 700 of its staff have achieved the Certified Beer Server qualification after passing the first stage of the rigorous Cicerone Certification Program.

The Cicerone Certification Program has become the industry standard for identifying those with significant knowledge and professional skills in beer sales and service. The program offers independent assessment and certification so that beer drinkers and industry professionals can be sure of the knowledge and skills possessed by beer servers.

Making the grade

The milestone means every single BrewDog employee, from the accounts team to bar staff is knowledgeable across a wide range of topics including keeping and serving beer, brewing process and ingredients, beer styles, beer flavour evaluation, and many more.

#CBSTarget100 was a target developed in 2017,comprising of a detailed Cicerone syllabus for all staff, a thorough training schedule, staff incentives for a pass in each level of the Cicerone program’s exams, and a means of tracking the progress of every employee. Each BrewDog employee who passes Certified Beer Server receives an increase in pay, which is further increased for every additional tier of the certification program that they pass.

James Watt, cofounder, commented:

“Our goal has always been to make others as passionate about great beer as we are. To fulfil this, we’ve invested in developing the most knowledgeable staff ever assembled by a brewery or retail business in Europe. It’s been a labour of love that will particularly pay great dividends through the awesome experiences customers can expect when they interact with ourworld-class bar teams.

The Certified Beer Server qualification sets a very high baseline level of beer knowledge across the board, and we’re very proud to be the first to achieve 100% accreditation across the business. The two things we care about most are our people and our beer. With this achievement, we’ve combined both to create a force for beery enlightenment, wherever our teams are posted around the world.”

Going further

BrewDog is currently finalising a proposal to enrol thousands of its more-than- 65,000strong Equity for Punks investors to the Certified Beer Server Exam in what its calling #CBS1000. The brewery also plans to help up to 200 stafflevel up to the second tier of Cicerone’s qualifications, Certified Cicerone. Currently, 62% of all Certified Cicerones in the UK work at BrewDog. BrewDog cofounder James Watt was Europe’s first Master Cicerone, the highest attainable level in the program. Only 13 individuals have passed the Master Cicerone exam to date, and two of them work at BrewDog, the other being Product Marketing Manager Rob MacKay.

Ray Daniels, Founder & Director of the Cicerone Certification Program added:

"The BrewDog achievement with regard to Certified Cicerone serves as a role model for every organization in the beer business. It combines the determination of management, the talents of the education staff and the hard work of all the candidates to achieve truly remarkable results. Congratulations to everyone involved."

This is the latest move from BrewDog to invest in its staff. In 2016, the brewer introduced an employee ‘unicorn fund’, which splits 10% of the company’s profits to all employees, as well as donating a further 10% to charities selected by staff and Equity Punk investors.Last year, the brewery unveiled its innovative ‘Pawternity’ leave, giving staff a paid week off to help new pet dogs settle it in.In 2014 BrewDog also became the first UK food and drink retail company in the UK to introduce the Living Wage.

ENDS

About BrewDog plc

Since 2007 BrewDog has been on a mission to make other people as passionate about great craft beer as we are. From the Headliner series, which includes bold, uncompromising pack leaders like the flagship Punk IPA, to the Amplified range (beer, but turned up to 11), BrewDog creates beer that blows people’s minds and has kick-started a revolution.

Cofounders James Watt and Martin Dickie shook up the business world in 2010 with the launch of pioneering crowdfunding initiative Equity for Punks, an initiative that has seen the company raise £49m over five rounds, taking more money through online equity crowdfunding than any other on record. The funds, and the army of punk shareholders (over 65,000) enabled the Scottish craft brewery to scale up without selling out.

With over 50 global bar launches, export into 55 countries, and a brand new brewery in Ohio launched in 2017, BrewDog continues to take the craft beer revolution stratospheric, whilst continuing to push the boundaries, invest in people, put the beer first, and champion other small breweries in its venues.

For more information, please contact:

For BrewDog:
Manifest London
Contact: Julian Obubo & Elly Barham Marsh
t.0203 1379 270
m. 07718 5781 76
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