E-Malt.com News article: Australia: Coopers brewery reaching out to more drinkers across Australia

After more than 150 years of dominating brewing in its home state of South Australia, the family owned Coopers is now reaching out to more drinkers in other states than ever before with New South Wales poised to become Coopers’ largest domestic market, The Sydney Morning Herald reported on May, 1.

It comes as the brewer consolidates its position in the eastern states and leverages off a string of licensing deals struck with international brewers to distribute popular foreign beers including Carlsberg, Sapporo, Kronenbourg 1664 and Mythos.

Coopers said on May, 1 that in January Coopers’ beer sales in NSW topped those of its home state for the first time.

‘‘While the result was not repeated in February, March or April, there was no doubt that NSW would quickly overtake South Australia on a regular basis,’’ Coopers’ chairman Glenn Cooper said.

“On a year to date basis (July to April), South Australia accounts for 29 per cent of Coopers’ total sales compared with almost 26 per cent for NSW,” he said. “However, the gap is narrowing quickly.’’

It is also believed that some Coopers sales in Queensland are for the NSW market.

He said January was the first month that more Coopers beer was sold in NSW than South Australia (two million litres verses 1.6 million litres), with this soon to become the standard.

“Sales in NSW have been increasing at double digit or close to double digit rates for the past 10 years and are continuing to grow strongly.

“Four of the five biggest Coopers-selling outlets in Australia are in NSW, with the Steyne Hotel and Manly Wharf Hotels at Manly, the Beach Road Hotel at Bondi, and the Great Northern Hotel at Byron Bay nipping at the heels of the Exeter Hotel in Adelaide.

Mr Cooper said the situation underlined the transition Coopers was making from being a South Australian beer maker to a national brand.

In calendar year 2012, South Australia represented 30.5 per cent of total sales, but that proportion is falling as interstate sales increase.

After the A$12 billion takeover of Foster’s by SABMiller more than a year ago Coopers became the largest Australian owned brewer.

It also comes as Fosters and Lion duel it out for the biggest selling beer in Australia with Foster’s VB recently regaining the crown as the nation’s most popular beer after XXXX Gold took the No.1 spot last year.

01 May, 2013