Premium beers fight for the top

A recent survey of the premium segment reveals that international brands continue to lead but domestic beers have improved slightly.

For the latter, Foster’s Crown Lager takes top billing at three times the sales of the others; the next leading brands (Coopers Sparkling Ale, Cascade Premium and James Boag’s Premium) are all very close together with Tooheys Extra Dry Platinum and Hahn Premium not far behind. Pacific Beverages report that the sales of imports Miller Draft, Peroni and Pilsner Urquell have doubled in the last few months. Total package premium beer sales, worth over AUD 860 million in the off-premise trade, now represent 18.4 percent of the total packaged beer market.