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Asahi has proposed to acquire Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime beer brands from Anheuser-Busch InBev, subject to the completion of AB InBev’s acquisition of SABMiller. Asahi’s Oceania division has meanwhile increased its earnings ratio up to seven per cent of revenue for the financial year ended December 31. The Japanese company announced the €2.6 billion deal with AB InBev as part of a long-term strategy of positioning its overseas business as ...

India Pale Ale’s dominance of the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers poll is arguably the first sign that Australian craft beer drinkers may follow the US in embracing the somewhat polarising beers of this style. In the US, IPAs accounted for less than eight per cent of the craft category in 2008, according to off-premise scan data. By the second half of last year they were expected to exceed 27.5 per cent. “That ...

Casella Family Brands has announced it is releasing [yellow tail] beer into two test markets in the US. Speculation about the [yellow tail] beer launch has been rife since San Diego brewer Ballast Point - which itself was acquired by Constellation Brands last November - ceased using Yellowtail as the brand name for its Pale Ale, allegedly under pressure from Casella. The flagship [yellow tail] brew, Australian Pale Ale, is now ...

Tasmanian liquor industry stakeholders have been invited to comment on new legislation introducing sales data reporting obligations for the state’s liquor wholesalers. The Liquor Licensing Amendment Act 2015 was passed by Parliament on 19 November 2015, with commencement of the amendments likely to be around early April 2016. The bill includes a requirement for relevant licensees to provide the government with information on their wholesale sales including the volume, value ...

Former Suntory Australia Managing Director Ian Atherton has been announced as the new Chief Executive Officer of Spirits Platform. Atherton officially joined the company on January 1 after a three month break, having finished with Suntory in September 2015, following its global acquisition of Beam Inc and the local merger of the two companies. Spirits Platform was created in August 2015 by its senior management team with joint venture partners Remy ...

A beer import deal that turned sour may prove instructive for Australian drinks suppliers, after a local company found itself facing legal proceedings that would have required it to attend an overseas court. The Supreme Court of WA recently threw out the brand owner’s unusual bid to have a judgment by an overseas court recognised in Australia. The dispute arose after World Brands Australia withheld payment of an invoice from ...

Cans’ resurgence as the preferred container of choice for craft beer has escalated throughout 2015. The format with a long and not-so-decorated history in Australian drinking culture is rapidly breaking down stubborn stigmas, such as that it’s for less sophisticated drinkers and that the aluminium taints the flavour of the beer. The bigger players are taking notice of the success tasted by brewers, such as Melbourne’s Mountain Goat, whose Summer ...

An exporter of Australian wine labelled as pinot grigio that was in fact three other grape varieties, has been stripped of its export licence by the Australian Grape and Wine Authority (AGWA). Dal Broi Wines (DBW), parent company of Griffith-based Southern Estate Wines, failed to win a stay application against the licence cancellation, which the company said had already cost it a contract with US drinks giant Constellation Brands. Dal ...

Five liquor retail banner groups are set to announce a collective bargaining arrangement that gives them buying power equivalent to one of the country’s top five players. The new entity has a collective footprint of about 400 retail outlets, according to industry sources. It will be known as Pentagon Ventures, a business registered on September 18, according to public records. The banner groups will each maintain their own identity and independence ...

Treasury Wine Estates is midway through implementing a new distribution model under which customers will no longer be able to order wines directly from the company. Orders will now be fulfilled through wholesalers, which a company spokesperson told drinks bulletin is “part of a broader strategy to continually drive improvements in business performance”. “We can confirm that this new model will not impact the level of service our sales team ...