Coca-Cola Amatil Limited (CCA) is moving to expand its interests in the premium beer market in Australia. On 22 August 2012, CCA announced it had entered into an agreement to lend up to around $46 million to the Australian Beer Company, part of the Casella group. This loan is a preparatory step towards CCA’s re-entry into the Australian premium beer market and will be used by the Australian Beer Company to assist with the acquisition and expansion of a state-of-the-art brewery in Griffith, New... ...Read more »

The Australian National Preventative Health Agency (ANHPA) is conducting an enquiry into whether governments in Australia should be setting a national floor price for alcoholic drinks served in bars and hotels. The enquiry seems to have been triggered by a number of international developments where minimum pricing has been set in countries such as Russia and Scotland. The fact that  governments in Australia already impose substantial consumption taxes and turnover taxes on alcohol seems to be outside... ...Read more »

In a special interview given to Australian Food News this week, the Marketing Manager of Vok Beverages Chris Illman shared some of the secrets of the success story of his nimble South Australian group. With wine labels such as Half Mile Creek, Queen Adelaide and Step Road, beer brand Cobra, a range of rums and gins, and the increasingly popular Three Oaks Cider, as well as liqueurs, ready-to-drink beverages, and non-alcoholic items such as Bickford’s Cordial range, the Vok brand portfolio has flourished... ...Read more »

The state of Victoria’s Auditor-General Dr Peter Frost has jolted the Victorian government with the revelation of shocking statistics regarding alcohol-related harm in Victoria. According to Dr Frost’s report, alcohol-related ambulance attendances in metropolitan Melbourne more than tripled between 2000–01 and 2010–11, and alcohol-related assaults in Victoria increased 49% in the same period. The report, titled ‘Effectiveness of Justice Strategies in Preventing and Reducing Alcohol-Related... ...Read more »

A New Zealand beer brand has won silver and bronze medals at the 2012 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, which went from 17–23 June in Cannes, France. DB’s advertising campaign, “The Wine is Over”, marketed their Export Dry product as New Zealand’s first premium dry beer, launched in 1987. The campaign noted that the brand had become just one of many over the years, but emphasised that it was the first beer to “save men from wine”. The campaign appears to have been based... ...Read more »

Perth-based brewer Little World Beverages (LWB), the owner of craft beer brands Little Creatures and White Rabbit, is now valued at more than $380 million after a foreign takeover offer by Japanese-owned Lion. Little Creatures, started in Perth in 2000 by three budding brewers, last year reported revenue of $70 million. Lion, a subsidiary of Japanese brewer Kirin, headquartered in Sydney, already has a 36% stake in LWB. The Lion bid will be subject to Foreign Investment Review Board approval. LWB... ...Read more »

Does the future of Australia’s new generation of brewers lie in the hands of our successful winemakers? This is the question small Australian brewers are now asking following the move by Casella Wines to diversify into beer. Casella Wines, an Australian success-story as the owner of the Yellow tail brand, the most popular imported wine in the U.S., last week unveiled their new Arvo beer. Arvo will be brewed on-site in Yenda, New South Wales, alongside the Yellow tail wine facility.  The Yenda... ...Read more »

The latest beer research from global market researcher Mintel shows that China’s taste for beer has increased significantly in the last five years. China’s beer market reached an all-time peak with a total volume of 50 billion litres consumed in 2011. The market grew 63% during the last five years and reached a total market value last year of RMB 454 billion. According to Mintel, this increase is due to consumers drinking more higher-value beer. Matthew Crabbe, director of China research at Mintel,... ...Read more »

Thunder Road Brewing, a microbrewery based in Brunswick, Melbourne, has taken Foster’s to court over more than 50 heritage Australian beer trademarks including Victoria Lager, McCracken’s Invalid Stout, Abbots Lager, Tiger Head and Richmond Lager. When a trademark has not been genuinely used in more than three years, the Trademarks Act may permit another company to apply to use the same brand. In an interview given to Australian Food News today, Philip Withers, Chief Executive of Thunder... ...Read more »

Three senior managers previously working for Fosters will head up the new team for the ales, marketing and distribution of Asahi Super Dry, one of the world’s most sought- after premium beers. Earlier this month, following the takeover of Foster’s Group by South African-based brewing group SAB Miller, Japanese company Asahi Group announced it was ending arrangements under which Foster’s Group handled the sales, marketing and distribution of Asahi Super Dry. From 2 April 2012, the brand will... ...Read more »