AUSTRALIAN BEVERAGE INDUSTRY DIGEST No. 68: Jun 22 ~ Jul 6, 2010

Written by John Harvey

Saturday, 10 July 2010 08:28

ALCOHOL POLICY

DrinkWise A new campaign of the non-profit body DrinkWise emphasizes the dangers of Australia’s modern drinking culture and maintains that many young people ‘are drinking to get drunk’. At the release of a new book - Expressions of Drunkenness - on Jul 4, DrinkWise revealed that one in four hospitalizations of Australians aged 15 – 25 is now because of alcohol. [from ABC radio news service Jul 4 & Adelaide Advertiser, Jul 5, 2010]

BEER & BREWING: General

International Brewers Day Two years ago US beer writer Jay Brooks suggested that a day – International Brewers Day – should be designated to celebrate good beer by thanking the men and women who make it. Australians are encouraged to celebrate the day - July 18 - by buying beers they have not tried before and thanking the brewer with a toast as they do. The day aims to encourage Australians to think a little more about the beers they drink and to foster the idea of drinking less but drinking better. [from www.brewnews.com.au Jun 30, 2010]

Light & mid-strength beers A recent survey of the Australian market for light (low or reduced) alcohol and mid-strength beers suggests that a preference for mid-strength brands is ‘working its way down the east coast … with the cane toads’. For some years sales of mid-strength beers have been significantly greater in QLD, WA and NT but they are now making inroads in other states at the expense of light beers, with XXXX Gold and Carlton Mid-Strength leading the charge. However, brand loyalty is still a potent factor in the minds of those consumers who are resistant to change. [from National Liquor News, Jun 2010]

BEER & BREWING: Australia - mainstream breweries

Coopers: The release of ‘The Dusty Dozen’ in June marked a promotion for aged Coopers Vintage Ale – the limited release pack contains 12 x 375mL bottles of the 2009 vintage of the premium product. In the same week, Coopers made a limited release of 2010 Extra Strong Vintage Ale, saying ‘it will improve with age … if you can wait that long’. [from adverts Adelaide Advertiser, Jun 23 & 25, 2010]

Foster’s/CUB: A new addition to CUB’s range - Carlton Natural - was released on June 30. Targeted at 25 - 30 year old males looking for easy drinking, Carlton Natural is described as a low-carb beer with a crisp dry flavour. The new beer will be supported by a multi-million dollar trade and consumer marketing campaign. [from E-Malt.com news, Jul 1, 2010]

Lion Nathan After losing a recent High Court case about the Barefoot brand in favour of USA company E & J Gallo Winery, LN has introduced Bare Cove Radler as a new trade mark and will ensure continuity of supply of the product previously known as Barefoot Radler. The re-brand is being launched with new packaging and promotional material. [from National Liquor News, Jun 2010]

BEER & BREWING: Australia - boutique & craft breweries

TAS: From Seven Sheds brewery in Railton comes Elephants Trunk at 7% abv – a Belgian-style ale. Available through on-line sales, Seven Sheds beers are also now appearing on tap in some Hobart outlets. [from Adelaide Advertiser, Jun 23,2010]

WA: Little Creatures brewery has followed its first single batch brew, an India Pale Ale, released earlier in the year, with a Brown Ale. With the use of Australian hops, Hallertau, Cascade, Topaz and Galaxy, the beer has a fantastic hop aroma combined with a punchy bitterness. Balanced with pale ale, Munich, crystal, rye and roast malts the beer has 5.4% abv.

The winners in the Perth Royal Beer Show this year included Feral Brewing who won best Australian Beer, WA beer and Ale trophies. Feral thus continues its recent domination of major Australian beer awards, winning the trophy for best brewery at last year’s Australian International Beer Awards, the trophy for Champion Ale this year and a swag of medals in between. Other winners included Nail Brewing’s Nail Stout which won a gold medal and trophy for best bottled stout. [from MB News 46, Jul 1, 2010]

BEER & BREWING: Asia Pacific

China: With its recent acquisition of Chongqing Brewery, Danish brewer Carlsberg now controls 50% of the beer sales in southwest China, thus cementing an important section of the world's largest beer market. [from e-Malt.com 25 June, 2010}

India: According a recent report, beer consumption may rise by as much as 7% this year to give a total of over 15 million hL. [from E-Malt.com news, Jul 1, 2010]

BEVERAGES: General

New guides Wine SA and Pubs SA - definitive guides to SA’s cellar doors, best wine experiences and pubs - have been launched at $14.95 each. [from Adelaide Advertiser, Jul 3, 2010]

Recycling containers A trial has commenced in an Adelaide suburban shopping centre of a reverse vending machine in which consumers can place empty recyclable beverage containers for refund of deposits. The success of the trial suggests that a wider distribution of such machines would be welcomed by consumers wishing to recycle a few items at a time. [from ABC radio news service Jun 28, 2010]

State and Federal Environment Ministers meeting in Darwin agreed on July 5 to again consider a national beverage bottle recycling scheme and to prepare a Regulatory Impact Statement for public comment, prior to a decision within the next 12 months. In the meantime, new recycling legislation will be introduced in NT in January. [from Adelaide Advertiser, Jul 6, 2010]

Sugar goes off-shore CSR, Australia’s major sugar producer, has agreed to sell its sugar business Sucrogen to Singaporean company Wilmar International for A$1.75 billion. The sale surprised the market as China’s Bright Food Group had been negotiating a deal for Sucrogen for some months. [from Adelaide Advertiser, Jul 6, 2010]

Share watch: Company Jul 6 Jun 21 Jun 30/09

A$ Aust Vintage 0.20 0.21 Not recorded

Coca Cola Amatil 11.61 11.83 8.62

Foster’s Group 5.62 5.76 5.05

Gage Roads 0.08 0.09 Not recorded

Little World Bev 2.50 2.50 Not recorded

RTDs, SOFT DRINKS, CIDER & JUICES

Caffeinated energy drinks The Ministerial Council for food regulation has noted concerns related to caffeinated energy drinks and reports that development of a bi-national (Aust & NZ) compliance strategy for energy drinks is almost completed. Australia’s National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is also reviewing current scientific evidence on the effects of caffeine consumption. [from Food Australia, Jul 2010]

WINE & SPIRITS

Changes in regulations Proposed changes to the Australian Wine & Brandy Corporation Act will permit the export to Europe of wines produced with the aid of techniques such as reverse osmosis and wood chip aging. Under the revised regulations, all involved in the production chain – growers, winemakers and suppliers – will be required to keep adequate records to confirm information and claims shown on labels. [from Adelaide Advertiser, Jun 22, 2010]

Festival for ‘mad March’ Adelaide will host the Cellar Door Wine Festival in 2010 to coincide with the ‘mad March’ festival season in the city. The festival, pitched at both locals and visitors, will feature tastings of wines from each SA region, accompanied by regional produce and entertainment. It is planned to make it an annual function. [from Adelaide Advertiser, Jun 26, 2010]

Foster’s news Foster’s Group (FGL) has renewed long-term leases for 31,600 sq m of building space and 1.5 million litres of bulk wine storage at Beckwith Park (Barossa Valley) but has reduced the overall area leased; the group will continue to own and operate the adjacent Penfolds red wine production facility. Other industry tenants at the Beckwith Park complex include Tarac, Enartis and the Wine Clinic.

Two vineyards in SA’s Limestone Coast region have been withdrawn from sale together with Bailey’s winery and vineyard in VIC but FGL still has nine Aussie vineyards listed for sale – three each in NSW, SA and VIC. [from Adelaide Advertiser, Jun 22, 2010]

Maintaining Australian wine markets A recent report by Rabobank indicates that, while the removal of some vineyards is necessary, this action alone will not solve all of the sector’s problems. Sustained investment in brand building is paramount as is the exploration of new market opportunities. [from Food Australia, Jul 2010]

New instrument BevScan, a new instrument capable of analysing and classifying a wine by means of its ‘spectral signature’, was launched at the WineTech 2010 conference in Adelaide in early July. Developed in SA by Jeffress Engineering and the Australian Wine Research Institute, it enables the detection of adulterated or counterfeit wines and fraudulent labelling as well as measuring levels of oxidation and other indices of deterioration. [from Adelaide Advertiser, Jul 5, 2010]

Peak bodies merging Three major Australian wine industry bodies will merge some operations from January next year. The Australian Wine & Brandy Corporation (AWBC), the Grape & Wine Research Development Corporation (GWRDC) and the Winemakers Federation of Australia (WFA) will combine finance, IT and administration functions and are currently searching for new office accommodation for about 70 staff. Shrinking income for research, marketing and lobbying tasks is cited as a major factor behind the move. [Adelaide Advertiser, Jul 6, 2010]

William Grant down under William Grant & Sons are forming an Aussie subsidiary - WGS Australia - to manage and distribute its range of products, including Grant’s, The Belvidere & Glenfidich.. For the past three years distributor Suntory has been responsible for increasing sales of Grant’s brands in Australia. [from National Liquor News, Jun 2010]

TRIVIA

Nothing new? From an advertisement ca 1896 in The Northern Miner, a newspaper published in Charters Towers, QLD since the 1870s:

‘Drunkenness is a very great evil unquestionably and is very common in the North. Men, and even women, go on recklessly drinking whatever comes their way, and consequently suffer untold misery. How much happier they would be of they kept sober and drank only West End Beer.’

{Presumably the West End Beer concerned here was a beer then brewed at Charters Towers by the West End Brewery, which operated in that town for a few years in the 1890s … and thus not the well known SA product. Ed]