Beheaded

The tag line runs: "It could only be Heineken". Why? Who could possibly want a bottle of Heineken after having seen this one, beheaded, the head in the gutter and the liquid oozing out?

Looking for a bedfellow

The UB Group, which claims to hold 40% of the Indian beer market and which is best known for its Kingfisher brand, will offer a 26% stake to any foreign partner who is willing to bring to India its international beer brand and ability to sell Kingfisher in markets outside India. Dr Vijay Mallya, the flamboyant chairman of the UB Group, said at a news conference in April that UB’s diversified investments would be separated from the brewer before the stake was sold.

From AC to BC

Yes, they brew beer in Azerbaijan - an estimated 15,000 hl annually according to The Barth Report. In 1997 the Azeri-Castel Brewery was set up as an Azerbaijani-French joint venture. It has since been renamed Baku-Castel because beverage company Castel has bought out the Azerbaijani partner and become the sole owner of the brewery.

What a goer

Carlton Special Beverage’s "Sub Zero" has re-invented itself with the launch of a pink grapefruit flavoured Sub Zero. Claiming to combine the tang of a pink grapefruit with triple distilled vodka, the new Sub Zero is cashing in on the current popularity of vodka with the 18-24 crowd. Visit www.subzero.com.au

Why oh why ...

... did they call it a "Killer Bitter"? SA Brewing, part of Lion Nathan, has increased the bitterness of its Southwark Bitter brand to 25 IBU. But what possessed them to call it a "Killer"? We should be told.

Few cheers at Lion Nathan

Australasian brewer Lion Nathan was able to lift net profit after tax 16% to A$89m (US$46.3m) in the six months to 31 March 2001. Profits would have been even higher had it not been for a A$12.9m loss in its Chinese operations. Lion Nathan China reduced its losses by 33% but is still far from breaking even. Half-year sales for the group were A$795.5m (US$413.7m), up 2%.

Crocodile tears

And you thought that the days of the Wild West were truly over? But not in New Zealand if you have been following the saga of embattled wine company Montana. Unbeknown to Lion Nathan, Montana Group chairman Peter Masfen sold his stake in the company to Allied Domecq while negotiating a sale with Lion Nathan. Is it a case of double crossing or tit for tat? After all it was Lion Nathan that supposedly breached New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZSE) rules in February when it bought a huge chunk of Montana’s share in a NZ$1 bn (US$421m) takeover battle. On 25 May, Lion Nathan held 62% of Montana, Allied Domecq, the world’s second largest drinks group, 26.7%. Allied’s deal with Masfen means that Allied can now block any major transactions planned by Lion as this would require a 75% shareholder vote.

Cooler blitz

Do they have no mercy or are they in league with sunglass-manufacturers? Japanese brewers Asahi and Kirin are currently blitzing consumers with a "red storm" (Asahi) and a "blue lightning" (Kirin) marketing campaign in support of their respective happoshu low-malt brands. While they are turning cooler cabinets red and blue, Japan’s brewers are intensifying their efforts to expand their lines of RTD (ready to drink) alcoholic beverages by rolling out a chuhai, an alcoholic drink mixed with carbonated fruit juices. Asahi is said to be the first one launching a chuhai. Kirin is expected to follow suit in July with a similar product.

Name change

At the company’s annual meeting on 28 May, Foster’s Brewing Group voted to drop "Brewing" from its name and become Foster’s Group, a move which is supposed to reflect Foster’s move into other businesses such as wine and gambling. To make a point, Foster’s, through Beringer Blass, bought 51% of premium New Zealand winery Matua Valley Wines for A$9.3m (US$4.8m). Auckland-based Matua is one of New Zealand’s top six producers with a A$10m turnover of 135,000 cases last year, 35 % of which were exported. By 2003 Foster’s expects wine earnings to overtake those from beer. Beer now provides 60% of earnings and wine 40%.

More than beer, balls and boobs

Maxim - does the name ring a bell? If not, than you don’t read what’s available on your news-agent’s top shelves. Maxim is one of the best selling men’s magazine’s in the US, the UK and now Germany too. Maxim is for men who want more out
of life than "beer, balls and
boobs." Could it be a coincidence that Lion Nathan’s latest beer to be launched in Australia in May is called -Tooheys
Maxim", a low joule beer? If it isn’t, does this mean that real men don’t eat quiche but do drink low joule beer? Interesting market research results.
To all appearances Lion Nathan came up with Tooheys Maxim after it had delved into its recipe book and reformulated a brew first released as "Longbrew" in the mid 1990s. But, this is purely based on guesswork. n.