Australia: Carlton & United Breweries to double sales of its relaunched craft beer portfolio

Australia’s second largest brewer, Carlton & United Breweries, wants to double sales of its relaunched Cascade craft beer portfolio within four years as it begins an assault on the booming niche market it has failed to leverage for a decade, Financial Review reported on October 3.

After arresting the decade-long decline in the nation’s biggest beer, VB, SABMiller wants to resuscitate earnings in the craft category – a market that has been in double digit growth for years, but a sector in which CUB previous management acknowledged they had under-invested.

SABMiller bought CUB parent Foster’s Group for A$12.3 billion in December 2011.

Cascade was launched a month ago and officially unveiled at its Cascade brewery in Hobart on October 2. Cascade Brewery Co brand manager Louise Thiele said CUB had neglected Cascade, underpinning a sales decline of 10 per cent year-on-year for five years.

The new lower alcohol content Cascade Premium Lager, pale ale and the new bright ale beers feature the brewery, the oldest in Australia, on the label and are sold in brown rather than green bottles.

“We are already seeing some positive [sales] signs,” Ms Thiele said.

Lion’s James Squire beer has a 31 per cent share of the market compared with about 4 per cent for Cascade.

CUB sells about 500,000 cases of Cascade’s craft beers, excluding its premium light. It hopes its vintage rebrand can increase sales to 1 million cases by 2017.

Lion, owned by Japan’s Kirin, also owns Little Creatures and controls about half the nation’s craft beer sales. Ms Thiele said Cascade was taking on Squires.

“CUB focused on brands we didn’t own outright,” Ms Thiele said. “We had lost focus – we absolutely admit that.”

Craft beer sales make up about 2 per cent of all beer sales, but 3.5 per cent of revenue.

The beer market has slipped 1.8 per cent in the past 12 months and beer consumption is at its lowest level in 66 years. Consumers are drinking less, but more expensive, beers.

04 October, 2013