Puerto Rico, where he has noted
signs of a growing interest for
Murphy's. And he would like to
persuade those markets to adopt the
Pubs of Ireland concept as well. "This
is a real win-win situation for all par
ties. But we must get in there fast. In
this sector it's important to be the
trendsetter. If you are the first in a
market to begin an Irish pub and
provided you've planned everything
properly, it's bound to be a success."
PORTFOLIO
The Murphy's Pubs of Ireland is also
benefiting portfolio development
with an average of half of the beer
volume sold in each outlet being
Heineken, and the remainder shared
between Murphy's Irish Stout and
Murphy's Irish Red Beer.
It was Guinness who initially began
aggressively marketing the Irish Pub
concept in the 1980's. "This signifi
cantly increased the awareness of
Irish beer brands and the Irish pub.
The potential for further develop
ment of the concept is enormous,"
says Mr. Leahy. "There exists signifi
cant investor interest in the concept,
particularly in countries such as the
Netherlands, France, Spain and Italy,
but also far beyond. The biggest
opportunity for us lies in leveraging
the international Heineken network
to build the concept.
For the longer term the crucial factor
for the success of Irish Pubs will be in
maintaining the integrity of the con
cept through its effective execution.
The quality of the pub design is
important, as is the level of service
and the beer - the entire outlet must
be top class. If we get that right, then
we will realise the huge potential for
building our brands through the
Murphy's Pubs of Ireland".
