Foster's Group Ltd and Lion Nathan Ltd are offering everything from rock concert tickets to a day at a cricket match to reverse a two-year slide in beer sales and win back drinkers who defected to pre-mixed spirits.
Australia's two biggest brewers, who control 97 percent of the country's A$8.5 billion (US$4.8 billion) beer market, are stepping up promotions during the crucial summer season, when they make a third of their annual sales.
Beer makers "are obviously trying to do what they can to arrest the volume decline," said Mal Higgs, president of the Australian Liquor Stores Association, which represents 3,000 liquor retailers.
"The industry is demonstrating its usual competitive nature." Beer consumption fell for a second year in the 12 months ended June 30 after tax changes pushed up the price of some brews by 9 percent and cut 10 percent from the cost of some pre-mixed cocktails.
That's led young drinkers to switch from beer to beverages such as Bacardi Ltd's Bacardi Breezer rum drinks, Diageo Plc's Bundaberg rum and cola in a can and Allied Domecq Plc's Malibu and cola. The pre-mixed-spirits market is growing at about 30 percent a year, and is now about 13 percent the size of the beer market.
Lion Nathan holds about 42 percent of the nation's beer market, trailing Foster's 55 percent share. Lion Nathan shares fell 2 cents to A$5.35 at the 4 pm Sydney close on the Australian Stock Exchange, and Foster's fell 1 cent to A$4.50.
In a bid to narrow the gap, Lion Nathan, the maker of Tooheys and Hahn beers, said it will increase advertising spending 40 percent during the holidays. The campaign "will be partly funded by cost-saving initiatives and by re-directing other" promotions, Lion Nathan Managing Director Andrew Reeves said.
The company, 46-percent owned by Japan's Kirin Brewery Co, is offering drinkers of Too-heys Extra Dry and James Squire beer the chance to win tickets to the Big Day Out rock festival, featuring the Foo Fighters.
Foster's, the main sponsor of the one-day cricket tournament between Australia, England and Sri Lanka that started yesterday, is giving drinkers of its top-selling Victoria Bitter the chance to take a group of friends to a game, where they will get free beer and food, while watching the action from a sofa.
It's also increasing marketing of Crown Lager to mark the 50th anniversary of Australia's top-selling premium beer.
A scorching start to summer bodes well for brewers.
The eastern half of the nation, home to four in five Australians, is likely to experience a hotter-than-average summer, according to weather forecasters.
Australia is in the grip of the worst drought in a century, and wildfires flared near Sydney earlier this month.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique