Foster’s to axe jobs

It was to be expected. With the loss of some licensed brands like Stella Artois and Carlsberg, Foster’s owner SABMiller took a long hard look at its production site at Abbotsford near Melbourne and decided to shut down one of its seven production lines by October this year. This will lead to loss of 33 jobs, hopefully through voluntary redundancies.

SABMiller said in July 2012 that its Australian lager volumes declined 8 percent in the quarter ended 30 June 2012, compared with the same period a year ago, as the industry continued to be affected by the loss of market share to other alcoholic beverages, together with subdued consumer sentiment.