A Laois craft beer company has accused the Electric Picnic promoter of “punching down on small, independent breweries”.

Speaking yesterday Electric Picnic Festival Director Melvin Benn defended his decision to exclude Laois’s Ballykilcavan Brewery from this weekend’s festival.

“I don’t like the beer,” he said. “Does that ever occur to anybody that I have tasted it and I don’t even like it?

“Why would I invite them to be here; I don’t even like the stuff?

“So no, I’ll choose what beer we have and I hope people like it. I like what we’ve got.”

On Lunchtime Live this afternoon, Ballykilcavan Brewery owner David Walsh-Kemmis said the real reason his business is being blocked from the festival is because “the world's second largest brewery” is paying him money to “keep us and everyone else out”.

He said he was shocked to hear Mr Benn’s comments.

“We're not used to big, wealthy owners of large companies coming in and punching down on small, independent breweries,” he said.

He said Ballykilcavan beers have won numerous award at home and abroad – including gold medals at the Lyon international beer festival (Concours International de Lyon).

“We spent a whole weekend last month selling our beers at Forest Fest - that's another smaller music festival in Laois - because the owner is from Laois and he loves our product and he has the decency to support small local businesses and let us in,” he said.

“I mean, Mr Benn is obviously entitled to his opinions, but if he doesn't like our beers, I'd say he's in a very small minority.

“I'd suggest maybe the real reason we're not allowed into the Picnic has nothing to do with his personal taste and probably everything to do with the large amount of money that the world's second-largest brewery pays him to keep us and everyone else out.”

Ballykilcavan Brewery products. Image: Ballykilcavan Brewery

He agreed that Mr Benn has a right to exclude craft breweries should he so choose – but called on the Government to change the law to support small businesses.

“That is the problem that we have and that many other small businesses have around the country,” he said. “That this sort of thing is perfectly legal.

“I mean, I would argue that it's wildly anti-competitive but it's perfectly legal for a festival organizer to take large amounts of sponsorship money from a big multinational, give them exclusivity and exclude everyone else.

“I have no problem with big multinationals going into festivals and no problem with them providing huge amounts of sponsorship, but  we just feel that festivals and events and sports stadia … should basically be forced to supply a small amount of access to local businesses.

“Like we could never supply the volume to keep Electric Picnic supplied with beer but what we would just like is to have one bar in there to be able to sell our products alongside the multinationals – so it is choice for the consumer.”

A view of the main Electric Picnic stage in 2017. Picture by: Conal McSweeney

Mr Walsh-Kemmis said Mr Benn is fully entitled to his personal opinion – but he should not let that influence the choices the 75,000 other people attending the festival have.

“I would be very surprised if he has tasted every single food product in there,” he said. “I'd be very surprised if he listened to every musical act that has gone in there.

“So, I'm not sure that argument stands up.”

He said his company has received an “overwhelmingly positive response” from the public since the spat with Electric Picnic began.

Electric Picnic has been contacted for comment.

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