Aussie ale: out of the shadows

There’s more to Australian beer than Foster’s. The country, in common with Britain and the US, is undergoing a beer revolution. Small craft breweries are bringing much-needed choice to parched throats, and home-grown drinkers and visitors can enjoy far more than the “amber nectar”.

As well as the beer awards — made at a glittering affair with a four-course dinner — Beer Expo at the Melbourne Showgrounds provided a new shop window for small brewers. It was hosted by Beer and Brewer, an impressive consumer magazine dedicated to all things beery in Australia and New Zealand. I had the pleasure of hosting a series of talks and tastings and was able to sample the beers of the craft fraternity.

Where are all the Australian Beer Festivals?

In putting this website together it became obvious that there are very few Beer Festivals taking place in Australia over the coming year. A search in our own Beer Festival Search Box reveals just 3 Beer Tasting events for 2009!

Why is this?

Australia is known for its love of beer. The national holiday, Australia Day, wouldn’t be the same without a set of bbq tongs in one hand and a cold stubbie in the other.

I think the problem is twofold. Firstly, Australians are very parochial about their beer. If you’re a Queensander then you drink XXXX, a Victorian and you drink Victoria Bitter and so forth. Such loyalty to a brand allowed the second problem to develop; no competition. For too long the majority of the beer market in Australia has been owned by just two brewers: the Fosters Group and Lion Nathan.

When a population drinks just a handful of beers and the brewers are happy to supply just a handful of beers then it is no wonder there are very few Beer Festivals - what is there to celebrate?

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Australia’s number one low carb beer now in a can

Australia’s fastest growing beer^ Pure Blonde is now available more often.

From 2 February 2009, Pure Blonde will be available nationally on and off-premise in 375ml stylish aluminium cans. It will also be available at events where glass is restricted.

Group Marketing Manager Premium Beer, Ben Summons says the Pure Blonde can increases the options for premium low carb drinkers who have been limited for choice in cans up until now.

“The can provides Pure Blonde drinkers an alternative to glass where there are specific venue restrictions on glass, or for non-glass events,” said Summons.

“Pure Blonde cans are perfect for low carb drinkers seeking a great-tasting, premium beer that is suitable for barbeques, festivals, camping trips or outdoor functions.” The Pure Blonde 375ml can is excellent value, carrying the same wholesale price and RRP as the 355ml stubby, but with an additional 20ml of volume per unit.

“The Pure Blonde can also offers existing can drinkers the opportunity to ‘trade up’ to something more premium that is also low carb,” said Summons.

Since the launch of Pure Blonde in 2004, the low carb beer segment has continued to grow dramatically, having increased 72.4% in value terms and 67.8% in volume terms vs YA.

The launch of Pure Blonde cans will be supported by POS materials (including price boards, pallet toppers and decals).

RRP: $15.99 for 375ml 6-pack. Each 375ml can contains 1.4 standard drinks and 4.6% ABV

SOURCE: * Pure Blonde is ranked first in the full strength low carb segment holding 50.0% Volume share and 49.1% Value share (Off-Premise MAT to 31 Dec 08). ^Pure Blonde is the fastest growing beer (by incremental volume) in Australia having grown +36.2% in Volume terms vs. YA and +39.1% in Value terms vs YA (Off-Premise MAT to 31 Dec 08). ^The Full Strength low carb beer category has grown 72.4% in value terms and 67.8% in volume terms vs. YA (MAT to 31 Dec 08). Note: Brands included in Full Strength low carb segment include: Pure Blonde, Hahn Super Dry, Carlton Dry, Boags Classic Blonde, Carlton Dry Fusion, Platinum Blonde, Tooheys New White Stag, Cascade Green, Amstel Premium, Tooheys Maxim, Michelob Ultra, Haagen Blonde, Carlton Natural Blonde, Pure Blonde Naked, Carlton Low Joule, Xxxx Diet Lager, Bavaria Blonde Lager, Gage Roads kutt, Virgin Blonde. Foster’s calculation based in part on data reported by Nielsen through its ScanTrack Liquor Service for the Beer Category for the Australian off premise liquor market. (Copyright © 2009, The Nielsen Company.

Foster's faces $700m write-down

Last August, Foster's wrote down the value of its intangible wine assets by $471 million and reallocated $575 million of goodwill from the $3.2 billion acquisition of wine group Southcorp in 2005 to its beer division.

But Goldman Sachs JBWere analyst Ian Abbott has warned that Foster's still holds a total of $2.2 billion of wine-related intangible assets on its balance sheet and could be set to announce further write-downs of up to $700million.

"Given that the global economy has deteriorated in the six months since the previous review of carrying values, we believe there is a risk of further write-downs," Mr Abbott wrote in a report to clients.

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Tassie beer brawl spills onto the mainland

IT IS no longer just a parochial battle between the Apple Isle's northern Boag's drinkers and their southern Cascade-consuming counterparts. The stoush between Australia's two biggest breweries has moved onto the mainland, and is about to get interesting, and expensive.

The fierce rivalry between Lion Nathan and Foster's cranked up another notch after Lion Nathan threw tens of millions of dollars into Boag's kitty as it takes on Foster's Cascade to be the Tasmanian beer brand of choice on the mainland.

The Boag's trademark has grown 6 per cent since it was acquired by Lion Nathan, which, according to Nielsen AIS, spent eight times more on advertising for Boag's ($7.4 million) than Foster's spent on Cascade ($900,000) in the 12 months to November 2008.

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Beverage giants face a year of change

IN 12 months those left standing in the Australian beverage sector will be talking about how 2009 was the year in which everything changed.

Ownership of the two biggest softdrink makers, Coca-Cola Amatil and Schweppes, is set to change hands, while Foster's may make a company-changing decision on the fate of its wine division and arch-rival Lion Nathan is looking to diversify into non-alcoholic beverages.

Meanwhile, global wine and spirit giant Constellation -- owner of the Hardy's and Leasingham brands -- is downsizing its Australian operations and overall domestic wine production is running well ahead of demand, creating a seemingly bottomless lake of unsold plonk that can only be sold at fire-sale prices.

Just to raise the stakes, the economic downturn now threatens to derail the long-running "premiumisation" trend that has seen drinkers switch to ever-more expensive fluids.

As the biggest player in Australian booze, it is fitting that Foster's will get the ball rolling, with chairman David Crawford pledging to make an announcement on the fate of the wine division by mid-February.

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Asahi denies considering Foster's tie-up

Japanese beer maker Asahi Breweries Ltd (2502.T) denied on Monday a newspaper report that it was considering a partnership with Foster's Group (FGL.AX) to enter the Australian alcoholic drinks sector.

The Age newspaper, reporting on the possibility, said Asahi was likely to wait until Foster's, which already distributes Asahi beer, completes a review of its operations.

If the beer business was spun off, Asahi is believed to be considering a partnership beyond the distribution contract, the article said, without giving a source.

On Wednesday, British confectionery maker Cadbury Plc (CBRY.L) agreed to sell its Australian beverage business to Asahi for 550 million pounds.

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Foster's fattens its amber fluid

Foster's Group has finally been punished for its decade-long foray into the poncey drink market. Months after admitting its $7 billion foray into the wine sector had been a costly mistake, Foster's has given up on its lame attempt to make Cascade look like a European beer.

"We got it wrong," conceded a Foster's spokesman, Troy Hey, who said the brewer was reversing the move taken last year to cut the size of Cascade Pale Ale stubbies from 375 to 330 millilitres.

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Molson Coors builds 5 per cent stake in Foster's

US brewing major Molson Coors yesterday declared it had built up a 5 per cent stake in Foster's Group and gave strong indications it had designs on the company's beer division.

Foster's bought an equity stake in Carling O'Keefe in 1987, and remained an equity partner following the merger with Molson until 1998, when it sold out to Molson for $1.1 billion and the North American rights to the Foster's brand.

The US licence has since moved to Britain-based brewer SABMiller, but Molson retains rights to brew, market and distribute the Foster's brand in the Canadian market.

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