Floyd O’Toole has been appointed as Coopers Brewery’s new Sales Manager for the Northern Territory. O’Toole will help support recent growth of the company’s beers in the state, which now represents around 2.4 per cent of Coopers’ total sales. During the six months to December 31 2015, Coopers recorded an overall 3.6 per cent increase in NT sales, driven by a 20 per cent rise in sales of Coopers Mild 3.5% and 6.9 ...

Brown-Forman announced overnight that it has agreed to sell brands Southern Comfort and Tuaca to Sazerac. Both brands will sell for US$543.5 million once approved by American regulatory bodies. While both companies are yet to announce the new distributor for the brands in Australia, there is speculation that the brands will be transferred to SouthTrade International, which already markets a number of Sazerac Company’s brands here, including Buffalo Trace, Old Rip Van Winkle ...

Speculation has mounted this week over a potential bid by Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd. for Grolsch and Peroni from SABMiller PLC. The story, which first appeared in Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, claims that the business there is expected to make an offer for both beer brands next week. It was reported that sources had told the newspaper that the Japanese food and beverage group is currently seeking to build a stronger presence within the global beer market. According to the ...

Winemaker Robert Oatley has sadly passed away, aged 87. The owner of Robert Oatley Vineyards and founder of Rosemount Estate had been ill for a number of months and died on Sunday morning. Mr. Oatley enjoyed a long and diverse career. Alongside wine, he was also well-known as the proud owner of Hamilton island and successful Sydney to Hobart yacht Wild Oats XI. Mr. Oatley produced his first commercial vintages in the early 1970s and ...

Diageo has announced that it has completed the sale of its major wine brands, including US based Chateau and Estate Wines and the UK based Percy Fox business to Treasury Wine Estates. The acquisition was agreed in October last year, after Diageo decided that it would be shifting its focus from wine to give more attention to the core brands within its portfolio. “With the completion of this transaction, Diageo will have released ...

Melbourne-based hospitality group, Dixon Hospitality, has announced its acquisition of three iconic Sydney venues from entrepreneur James Wirth’s Drink’n’Dine group. The acquisition includes The Oxford Tavern in Petersham, The Forresters in Surry Hills and The Norfolk in Redfern, bringing the total number of venues under Dixon Hospitality up to 28. The acquisition also sees the family owned company enter into the Sydney market for the first time. “We’re starting to get scale and ...

An IGA south of Sydney in Yarrawarrah has had its liquor licence suspended for 14 days after being caught selling alcohol to a minor. Police caught the liquor store selling a 17-year-old a pack of bourbon and cola back in June. A secondary supply incident was also recorded by police at the same store a few months later. As a result, the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) has ...

A case involving an employee of a large South Australian wine producer last month should have caught the attention of everyone in the drinks trade, because it involved that ever-present industry hazard of an employee being over the limit in the workplace. By Walter MacCallum, Director, Aitken Lawyers The employer had recently implemented a trial workplace drug and alcohol policy at one of its plants in Berri. The policy aimed to maintain a safe environment, compliant with ...

Producer of Starward whisky, New World Whisky Distillery, has received $10 million to expand production at its Melbourne site from a number of local and international investors, including Diageo. Diageo decided to invest in the distillery earlier this year through its Distill Ventures scheme; a scheme that supports the development of new spirits brands. As a result, Diageo now has a minority stake in the business, but the distillery will still remain as ...

The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, FARE, has this week come out in the media attacking the LION backed website: http://www.beerthebeautifultruth.com “Despite what the brewers might imply, beer still hasn’t made its way into the food ­pyramid,” Michael Thorn, FARE’s education chief, was quoted as saying in the Daily Telegraph. The campaign has sparked a number of brands to introduce nutritional labels on beer (and now wines) showing that ...