http://www.sbs.com.au/blogarticle/108131/Spot-the-Aussie-The-imported-beer-myth/blog/Mouthful
Especially this quote:
One of the last global holdouts to licensing other breweries to brew a mass market lager was Heineken. Alfred (Freddy) Heineken, the now deceased president of Heineken International was an impassioned supporter of the beer remaining true to its origins. In the words of the beer hunter, Michael Jackson:
Freddy Heineken had his own article of faith: that a proper lager cannot be made in fewer than 60 days, while most of its rivals worldwide would settle for 21 or even 14. He insisted that, in the American market, the beer remain a true import, and not be brewed under license. He was passionately proud of the Heineken yeast.
Since Freddy's death in 2002, now when you reach for a Heineken in Australia chances are that it was brewed by Lion Nathan in Australia.
Anthony
ReplyDelete1. More on Peroni, please see (SAB Miller) http://www.actionaid.org.au/campaigns/tax-justice.html
2. More on brewed under licence, please see for a comparison of two Stellas ( one import and one local) both purchased from Dans ( same day, same shop, same price). http://www.youtube.com/user/thebeerfrontiertv?feature=mhum#p/u/25/4_71_lvAMSM
The Beer Frontier was on Melbourne's C31 in 2010.
Good move, Anthony
ReplyDeleteIt would be good to extend this campaign to...
1) EXPOSE Australian beer brands who claim some authenticity re brewing in a particular place, but are actually brewed elsewhere by contract brewers
2) PRAISE those brands who are providing some real local content by...
a. growing their own hops and/or
b. growing and/or malting their own barley
...and like honest wine providing a real sense of terroir.
It would be a huge job, but we could start doing it state by state. There are many websites listing breweries - including a listing of 172 breweries on my site www.VineFinders.com.au - but just producing a list of authentic brewing operations doesn't of itself achieve our goals!
Interested in any feedback
Cheers
Dick Friend
Great post Dick and it has shocked me by just how many locally brewed beers are actually masquerading as being imported.
ReplyDeleteTWTW has given some impetus to the campaign, with WineFront's Gary Walsh apparently having "started a campaign on Twitter urging people to not buy ‘fake’ Peroni as opposed to the real stuff made in Italy. “Yes, I’m an instigator of this,” says Gary".
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the spoof: "Meanwhile, there is talk of BD guru Max Allen agreeing to a nude run in Melbourne to draw attention to fake Peroni. Rumour is Max will be wearing nothing but a cow horn."
As before, it's all very well to complain, what we need is promotion of those who go all out to produce real local individual terroir-based brews! Anyone interested?
I suggest we all write in to:-
ReplyDelete• online retailers and supply sites (eg boozle.com) and ask them to identify if the beers advertised are BUL (brewed under licence) or BCO (brewed in country of origin)
• the ACCC on the basis that the marketing and pricing of BUL beers is generally misleading and deceptive in breach of the Competition and Consumer Act (the new name for the Trade Practices Act).
The ACCC has an online complaint form (although it has a word limit). I said my complaint was about 'beer marketing and pricing' and the persons about whom I was complaining were ‘various’.
My argument was that generally BUL beers are marketed AND PRICED as if they are BCO beers (when the two are in reality DIFFERENT PRODUCTS) as follows:
1. Their labels bear similar designs to those of the BCO beers they replace and only by reading the back of the label very carefully can one find that they are not in fact BCO.
2. BUL beers are found in the ‘imported’ beer section of major stores and in the ‘imported beer’ section of restaurant menus. Pubs and clubs regularly market BUL beers as if they are BCO. Only rare liquor outlets or restaurants have the integrity to classify BUL and BCO beers correctly under their real country of origin.
3. BUL beers are priced similarly to BCO imports, and sometimes are even more expensive than BCO beer. This also misleads consumers into believing they are paying for imported beer. If BUL beers were much cheaper than BCO beer, consumers would be more aware that they were buying a different product.
Both the marketing and pricing work together to mislead.
Suggested solutions: ACCC should:
• require clearer product labelling– either the label should clearly state on the FRONT of the label that the beer is made in Australia, or the label should not be so similar to the BOC product that the BUL version can be visually confused with the ‘original.’
• enforce correct description/categorisation of BUL beers in retail outlets, pubs, clubs and restaurants and prosecute if necessary
• require TV ads to make it clear whether they are about BUL or BCO – or if the ad is about both/ the brand, whether you can buy BUL or BCO or both under that brand.
It's like the car ads which say that they show an imported model. I look forward to when we have the same level of disclosure for beer ('Imported Peroni pictured)!