Canada: The Columbia Brewery announced the launch of a special series of Kokanee beer bottles designed to celebrate and promote British Columbia mountain resorts. Beginning in January, more than 12 million Kokanee bottle back labels will feature one of ten western Canadian ski mountains, according to First Tracks news. "As B.C.'s mountain brewery, we're celebrating the mountain lifestyle that people associate with Kokanee by showcasing North America's premier ski destinations on our back labels and encouraging beer drinkers to visit them," said Dave McAnerney, Brewery Manager, Columbia Brewery.

The ski resorts featured on Kokanee bottles include Whistler Blackcomb, Panorama Mountain Village, Sun Peaks Resort, Fernie, Big White Ski Resort, Mount Washington and Powder King, all in British Columbia, and Lake Louise and Marmot Basin in Alberta.

"This special series of Kokanee bottles featuring Whistler Blackcomb is an innovative way for a brewer to promote the diversity and quality of B.C. mountain resorts," said Stuart Rempel, Senior VP Marketing & Sales, Whistler Blackcomb. "We're naturally very excited about this partnership with Kokanee. It truly demonstrates how at home the Columbia Brewery is in the B.C. mountain lifestyle."

The special back label of Kokanee's 341 ml bottle is available across Canada wherever Kokanee is sold, featuring information on the selected ski resorts such as vertical drop, average snowfall and number of runs.

"Kokanee is the best of B.C. in a bottle and the ski resorts we've chosen are the best of B.C. on our bottle. Combined, these mountains had more than four million ski visits last winter. With our back label promotion, the Columbia Brewery hopes to help these B.C. ski resorts experience a record breaking year for visitors in 2005," said McAnerney.

02 February, 2005