CUB Reinvents Category with Rerelease of Pure Blonde

Up until the early 2000s, low carb or “light” beers as they are referred to in the US, hadn’t really received much attention in Australia. In fact, prior to the release of Pure Blonde in 2004 by Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), there weren’t any other low carb beers available in this market.

At a time when breweries in Australia were searching for ways to engage females with the category and the “health-conscious” consumer was becoming a demographic not to be ignored, CUB was looking to America, where the growth of beers like Coors Light and Miller Lite was unprecedented, and it wasn’t long until Pure Blonde was ready for Australia, ready to bridge the gap.

“Pure Blonde’s release more than 10 years ago had a huge impact on the market; not only did it create a new segment in low carb beers, but it was also one of the first beers that appealed to both male and female drinkers, and in doing so brought female drinkers into the category overall”, a spokesperson for CUB said.

CUB had successfully gone and produced a lager with the same refreshment and full-flavour as other lagers on the market offered, but with 70 per cent less carbohydrates.

Soon after Pure Blonde had proved there was an audience for these types of beers, CUB released a number of other low carb offerings, as did Coopers and Lion, and Australian drinkers were now choosing from a whole range of beers in the segment, such as Peroni Leggera, Carlton Dry, Coopers Clear, Hahn Super Dry and XXXX Summer Bright Lager, to name a few.

New releases and support from the big brewers saw the segment quickly spike and today, low carb beers are out pacing prominent mid-strength and even premium Australian and craft beer (IRI-Aztec Market Edge to 05/04/15), and CUB only plans on growing it even further.

Now, in an innovative move, CUB has released a new product that it believes will not only achieve said additional growth for the segment, but will change the way consumers think about the category once again.

“Pure Blonde has been quiet over the last couple of years and we haven’t had a lot of new news for our consumers”, a CUB spokesperson said. “Low carb beers are now quite common and brands are fairly interchangeable. We wanted to reinvent the category with new claims to differentiate Pure Blonde again and hit the nail on the head based on what our consumers have told us.”

According to CUB, the new release, replacing the original Pure Blonde beer, has a staggering 30 per cent less carbs. Pure Blonde Ultra Low Carb Lager is also 80 per cent lower in carbs than the average beer and 50 per cent lower in carbs than wine per ml, placing the release into an unrivalled sub-category of its own – ‘ultra low carb beer’.

Backed with a new look, CUB believes the rerelease will further cement the brand’s popularity with males and females alike, while also attracting consumers from other categories that wish to monitor their carbohydrate intake.

“We’ve made some changes to our brewing process, and while we can’t give away any secrets as to how we’ve done it, we can say that we’ve still managed to retain the same refreshing full-flavoured taste that Pure Blonde is loved for”, a CUB spokesperson continued.

“We’re hoping this new launch will do the same thing for the category as the launch in 2004. The new compelling claims will attract new drinkers, lapsed Pure Blonde drinkers and we’d love for more women to discover this great beer.”

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