The world’s largest coffee chain, Starbucks Coffee Company, announced today plans to introduce wine, beer and “premium food” to a handful of its stores in the United States by the end of 2012. Starbucks stores in Atlanta, California and Chicago, have been “carefully selected” in response to “customer feedback for more options to relax in the evenings” for the new menu additions. These stores, along with several others recently announced for the Chicago area, will be the first stores... ...Read more »

The  Victorian regional city Ballarat will be the place many Australians will be on Saturday, January 21 2012 as they sample craft beers from all over Victoria plus a few more. The one-day Ballarat Beer Festival  extravaganza will be showcasing  a multitude of craft beers from some of Victoria’s  world-class microbreweries. Amongst them will be beers from : Bridge Road Brewers; Broo Lager; Buckleys Beer; Coldwater Creek; The Good Brew Co; Hawthorn Brewing; Holgate Brew House; King Street Brewhouse;... ...Read more »

Coca Cola Amatil is expecting to make around A$165 million in profit from the sale of its shares in the joint venture beverage manufacturer Pacific Beverages to other shareholder, multi-national brewer SABMiller. Pacific Beverages brands include Peroni, Miller Genuine Draft and Pilsner Urquell. Coca Cola Amatil expects to record a profit of around A$60 million for 2011, comprising the above-mentioned profit less around A$105 million in the extra costs associated with the restructuring of fruit producer... ...Read more »

Australian supermarket chain Coles has apologised to customers who thought they had found a bargain yesterday when two beer lines were inadvertently listed with the wrong price on its online shopping website. 24-bottle slabs of Coopers Sparkling Ale, which Coles usually sell for A$53.99 each, and 24-bottle slabs of James Squire Golden Ale, normally listed on the website at A$54.99, were listed with a price of just A$15.99. Word about the cheap deal quickly spread through the social media platform... ...Read more »

Research published today by market research organisation, IBISWorld, predicts that Australians will spend A$25.4 Billion on alcoholic beverages in 2011-12. According to the research, Australians are increasingly choosing premium alcoholic drinks over traditional beers. The report predicts that alcohol spending in Australia will increase by 15.3% over the next five years, reaching A$29.3 Billion in 2016/17. IBISWorld General Manager (Australia) Karen Dobie said that while Australia’s alcohol consumption... ...Read more »

After five hours of judging, Lion Nathan’s Kosciuszko Pale Ale has been crowned Australia’s best beer at the Royal Queensland Food and Wine Show (RQFWS) Beer Competition in Brisbane today. Kosciuszko Pale Ale beat 54 other beers to claim the title of Grand Champion Beer of Show and Champion Ale of Show, while Burleigh Brewing’s HEF and Blue Sky Brewery’s FNQ Lager were also awarded champion trophies. RQFWS Beer Competition Chief Judge Ian Chant said a great standard had been achieved across... ...Read more »

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission yesterday announced that it will not oppose the acquisition of the iconic Australian Foster’s Group by SABMiller. According to ACCC chairman Rod Sims “the proposed acquisition is not likely to result in a substantial lessening of competition for the supply of beer”.  Before reaching this conclusion, the ACCC carried out a comprehensive review, involving market inquiries with a range of interested parties in the beer industry. UK company SABMiller... ...Read more »

Multi-national brewer SABMiller has agreed with Foster’s Group Limited a recommended cash offer to Foster’s shareholders at A$5.10 per share, which values Foster’s equity at approximately A$9.9 billion. The agreement is the culmination of a long-running series of negotiations between the two companies, with SABMiller recently mounting pressure on the Australian brewer. As part of the transaction, Foster’s will pay its shareholders a return of capital of A$0.30 per share prior... ...Read more »

Three glass bottled beer products brewed by Little Creatures have been recalled over fears of possible presence of glass in the product due to faulty packaging. Little Creatures is a subsidiary of a company in which the Lion Nathan Group has a 40% interest. Its operations are based in Fremantle, Western Australia. A number of the Little Creatures Pale Ale, Bright Ale and Dreadnought Single Batch bottled beers, which are distributed to bottle shops and liquor stores across Australia, are potentially... ...Read more »

The non-profit Alcohol Education & Rehabilitation Foundation (AER Foundation) today presented a report to the Australian Government calling for urgent reform of taxes on wine in Australia. The report “Alcohol Taxation Reform – Starting with the Wine Equalisation Tax”, was produced by leading economic consultants the Allen Consulting Group, commissioned by the AER Foundation. The AER Foundation report claims that Federal Government would earn an extra $1.5 billion by applying similar tax... ...Read more »