Pressure has been mounting on caffeinated alcohol beverages as US consumer groups look to ban such products. With binge drinking a concern, it appears the focus has now spread from alcopops to caffeinated alcohol products. Anheuser-Busch has announced that they will remove the caffeine, guarana, and ginseng from their flavored malt beverages Tilt and Bud Extra. The move comes as part of agreements reached with the non-profit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which in February threatened... ...Read more »

The energy drink market has become increasingly competitive, as beverage companies seek to capitalise on the desire for consumers to find an energy boost during their day. The global energy drink industry, which has been one of the top performing beverage sectors over the past decade, is still dominated by Red Bull despite several attempts by beverage giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola to take a chunk out of their market share. In Australia and New Zealand ‘V’, owned by Frucor Beverages,... ...Read more »

InBev have reaffirmed their interest in Anheuser-Busch via a letter prodding a response from the American company. The unsolicited takeover bid, which values Anheuser-Busch at US$46.3b, was made two weeks ago, but Anheuser-Busch has since remained coy about their possible response. It has been reported that members of the Busch family are divided about the potential takeover, while the company’s second largest shareholder, billionaire investor Warren Buffett, had been in support of... ...Read more »

The American Beverage Association, a trade organization representing manufacturers and distributors of non-alcoholic drinks, has criticized the decision by a committee of the US Conference of Mayors to discourage the use of bottled water as “sound-bite environmentalism”. The resolution was reportedly passed narrowly after contentious debate amongst mayors and will result in a phase out of city spending on bottled water and an attempt to reduce purchases of the beverage. The bottled... ...Read more »

The Australian Government is not the only government making policy changes to curb binge drinking rates as concern spreads worldwide. Like the Rudd Government, the American Government has increased alcopop taxes, while England is considering increasing prices of alcohol in supermarkets. Scotland, though, are planning to go further, with a range of initiatives planned to limit binge drinking. The Scottish Government yesterday launched its new approach with the aim of changing Scotland’s... ...Read more »

The energy drink market has been growing considerably over the past five years with the success of Red Bull symbolic of the potential of the sector. However, as more competitors enter, the need for product differentiation will continue to increase but the ability to provide an option which varies noticeably from the competition appears limited. Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS) has now introduced Venom, a new energy drink into the ever expanding marketplace. DPS, the North American beverage company,... ...Read more »

The Senate Committee Inquiry into the proposed tax increase on “alcopops” begun this morning in Canberra with the public hearing, held over the next two days, to have evidence provided by 17 groups (mainly from health and alcohol sectors). The Community Affairs Committee is due to report on ten issues relating to the proposed tax increase on ready-to-drink (RTD) alcoholic beverages. The primary issues are: the likely effect of the scheme on RTD consumption prevalence, the modelling underpinning... ...Read more »

In response to rising production costs some brewers are shifting their business focus to target the potentially lucrative ‘luxury’ market, while many others look to the premium market to drive growth. Foster’s has recently created Crown Ambassador Reserve lager to kick-start their push into the “luxury” category, according to AAP. The lager, which will be released as a limited edition of 5000, will retail at a price of $60. The issue with creating such a beer, though,... ...Read more »

McDonald’s is attempting to appeal to the growing number of Australian consumers looking for environmentally friendly products. Via their McCafe outlets, McDonald’s are planning to ensure that all the coffee they sell comes from environmentally friendly coffee growing areas. To do this they will need to source almost 500 tonnes of coffee this year from farms in South America which undergo an annual inspection by the Rainforest Alliance, an international not-for-profit conservation... ...Read more »

A fall in sales of alcopops has been recorded following the marked increase in taxes applied to the beverages by the Rudd Government. Lion Nathan boss, Rob Murray, has claimed that sales of alcopops may have fallen by up to 30 per cent since the price hike about a month ago. “The first 4-6 weeks were always going to be the worst in terms of a drop in sales,” Mr Murray was quoted as saying in the Herald Sun. “It has been a substantial reduction in sales so far, but we will... ...Read more »