Mr Cooper said that to ensure the practice of rolling became better known, Coopers had launched a AUD 1 million advertising campaign in its home state of South Australia to highlight the practice and promote the key difference between Coopers Original Pale Ale and most other beers – the cloudy

Although non-Japanese alcoholic beverages imported or produced under license make up only a fraction of the domestic market, Kirin hopes to increase its domestic market share through addressing the diversification of personal preferences within Japan’s aging population.

Nevertheless, the alcopop levy will stay until 13 May – even though Parliament, following the Senate, axed the levy in March.

In keeping with the Government’s war on binge drinking, John Harvey has learnt that the concessional tax on low-alcohol beer, worth AUD 48 million over four years, is likely to be retained but the concessional rate of excise on brandy, which is 7 percent lower than for other spirits will disappear, at a cost to drinkers of AUD 20 million.

In Australia, cider may be the next big thing, as RTDs are taxed out of popularity and sales of beers and wines remain static. Moreover, cider is benefiting from a decade-long trend of drinkers experimenting outside their usual beer and wine choices.

According to rumour, private-equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and Affinity Equity Partners are among the bidders that qualified for the second round.

On 19 March, organisers of the Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA), which was established 16 years ago to reward excellence in the field of brewing

Following the decision by the Australian senate to reject the RTD tax, Australia’s largest distillers have confirmed their immediate commitment to donate any tax refunds they receive to DrinkWise Australia.

Nielsen ScanTrack Liquor figures to the end of January this year suggest RTD sales have dropped dramatically by 29 percent since the introduction of the excise hike on 27 April 2008. Between May last year and January this year, the number of RTDs sold dropped by a total of 310 million standard drinks.

The Coca-Cola Company should have seen it coming. Remember how the Chinese government responded to the purchase of Anheuser-Busch by InBev last year?