Olly Wehring's beverage industry blog - from just-drinks.com

Happy birthday Bacardi

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:33:00 GMT

Bacardi celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding last weekend, with a big old knees-up in Miami. As you can see below, lots of incredibly good-looking people were invited. But, don't bother looking for me: I couldn't make it (nor was I invited).

And, get this: Luis Fortuño, the governer of Puerto Rico - where Bacardi produces its namesake rum brand - has declared 4 February 'Bacardi Day', in acknowledgement of the role the company plays in the island’s economy.

You've got to admit, that's pretty cool.

Super Bowl Sunday - A Taster from Anheuser-Busch

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:11:00 GMT

Ahead of Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday (Go Giants!), brace yourself for the usual advertising hooplah between plays.

To whet your appetite, here are three teasers from Anheuser-Busch. Just, don't blink.

Carbendazim - A Pictorial Guide

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:01:00 GMT

Dominating the soft drink headlines at the moment is the discovery of the Carbendazim fungicide in orange juice imports to the US.

Below, courtesy of consulting firm FDAImports.com, is an infographic detailing the situation.

Infographic created by FDAImports.com, an FDA consulting firm helping US and foreign companies navigate FDA regulations for marketing and importing foods, dietary supplements, drugs, cosmetics and medical devices.

William Grant & Sons - Is 'quirky' a dirty word?

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:03:00 GMT

How would you feel if someone described your portfolio as being 'quirky'?

William Grant & Sons has more than its fair share of quirky: Hendrick's, Monkey Shoulder, Sailor Jerry and The Balvenie could all be justifiably described as being quirky (but don't, whatever you do, call any of them 'niche'). And I mean that as a compliment.

CEDC's Zubrowka vodka is certainly quirky. With a blade of bison-grass from Bialowieza Forest - one of the last primeval forests in Europe - in each bottle, the product will sit comfortably alongside William Grant's portfolio when the company's UK distribution unit, First Drinks, goes to market.

Would William Grant like to take things further, and maybe take ownership of the brand? With CEDC currently looking at ways to deal with its debt, don't be surprised if Grant's CEO, Stella David, asks CEDC's Bill Carey if he fancies a drink some time soon.

As things stand, I've been led to believe that William Grant doesn't have such an option on Zubrowka. Nevertheless, with Russian Standard's owner, Roustam Tariko, looking to up his stake in CEDC to around 30%, could we have a bison race on our hands before 2012 is out?

Truman's moving back to London

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:11:00 GMT

It's become pretty common to dislocate beers from their geographic homeland in the present era of brewing industry consolidation, which is why the Truman's story caught my eye this week.

Provenance is a buzzword in marketing circles, yet it receives homage only intermittently in the world of big brewing. Partly, of course, global distribution needs mean that brands often have to be brewed at scale and close towhere they are sold.

Proponents of the 'nothing is sacred' attitude would argue that things cannot simply stay the same, to be preserved as some memorial to the past at the expense of the present. There is probably some truth there, but one suspects, at the same time, that such change is often made under the watchful gaze of corporate bean counters.

The history of brewing is littered with brands lost, but also those moved from their place of origin. Take Newcastle Brown Ale, which is no longer brewed in Newcastle, or Boddingtons, which has long since lost its namesake Manchester brewery.

This week, however, the new owners of the Truman's beer label offered us the reverse.

In 1989, Grand Met shut down the 'Old Truman Brewery' in East London. It has since become the epicentre for quirky cool in London, surrounded by stalls that some would describe as 'vintage' and others 'jumble sale'.

In 2010, the Truman's beer label was refounded by James Morgan and Michael-George Hemus. Until now, they've been brewing at Everards in the East Midlands of England, Morgan told me this week. But, they want to bring Truman's back to East London in 2012, albeit a little off its original scale.

"Our plan is to build a 40-barrel plant, which we hope will be operational by the end of the year," said Morgan, who, alongside other microbrewers in the UK, is enjoying resurgent consumer interest in local beers.

If you're in London, seek out Truman's Runner and have a session. Alternatively, find the guys a brewing site and you'll be in-line for 500 bottles of the stuff. No, really.

Burger... hic... Kebab ... hic ... Hot DoHOWMUCH?!

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:43:00 GMT

We've all done it. The morning after, as the haze starts to slowly ascend, you check the pockets of last night's trousers to see if you've got any cash left. Among the coppers, you find a receipt from a fast-food joint, the time and date confirm that it wasn't that you slept with a cat in your mouth; that fur lining of your mouth comes from the dirty burger you wolfed down around midnight on the bus.

My sympathies go out to the residents of Vancouver, however, who have been given yet another late night food-related pitfall to navigate on the way home.

DougieDog Hot Dogs, a food outlet in the city, has added the Dragon Dog to its menu … with a price tag of CAD100 (US$98). Described as “12 inches of absolute culinary decadence”, the hot dog consists of a foot-long bratwurst infused with 100-year-old Louis XIII Cognac, which costs around CAD2,000 per bottle.

Don't drink and dog, Vancouverites.

They shall drink beer, says FIFA

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:15:00 GMT

Just imagine a football World Cup without beer? Go on, imagine it. You can't, can you? Well, neither can FIFA.

The world football body has told its next World Cup host, Brazil, to forget about continuing to ban alcoholic drinks at the nation's stadiums. It's an issue causing some political problems in Brazil, which, like other host nations before it, will have to subjugate its laws and customs to those of the Democratic People's Republic of FIFA for the duration of the four-week tournament in 2014.

Brazil banned alcohol from stadiums in 2003, but FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke is standing tall. He told a press conference today (19 January): "Alcoholic drinks are part of the FIFA World Cup, so we're going to have them. The fact that we have the right to sell beer has to be a part of the Law."

Are you getting that, Brazil? It's a FACT that Fifa has the right to sell beer.

Of course, Brazil's biggest brewer, AmBev, is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, which counts Budweiser as the official beer of the FIFA World Cup.

Honestly, though, I think Valcke's got a point. Has anyone tried watching England without beer? It's horrific...

Suck & Blow - the worst idea for an alcoholic drink of all time?

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:27:00 GMT

The UK's Portman Group has clattered US-based SAB Enterprises over its Suck & Blow alcoholic jelly tubes.

I mean, really, what were they thinking? Portman basically said today (19 January) that Suck & Blow breaks nearly every rule in its book. It criticised the product for potentially attracting children with its "childish font", linking alcohol to sex (I'm not sure I understand that one...), and for encouraging "rapid drinking".

According to Portman, the product is a tube that opens at both ends and is designed for one person to blow half the contents into another person’s mouth and vice versa.

REALLY?

Coors Light unseats King Bud

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:23:00 GMT

Coors Light has achieved its expected coup in the US by knocking Budweiser off its perch as the second biggest selling beer in the country.

SABMiller's CEO, Graham Mackay, confirmed to just-drinks last year that this was on the cards. It has now come to pass, according to Beer Marketer's Insights, which this week put Coors Light 0.5m barrels ahead of Budweiser for calendar 2011.

No doubt there will be a few celebratory beers at MillerCoors HQ. Beer Marketer's Insights estimates that Budweiser - self-styled the King of Beers - lost 4.6% of volume last year. Coors Light, meanwhile, picked up 0.8% of volume.

Not exactly stellar figures, and reflective of weak mainstream beer sales in the US. It would be understandable to compare the tussle to a boxing match on a sinking boat. Anheuser-Busch InBev's Bud Light, meanwhile, remains, ahem, light years ahead of its nearest rival.

But, there is a certain amount of symbolism and prestige at stake for MillerCoors, not to mention bragger's rights with distributors.

Coca-Cola, Nestle announce the inevitable

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:00:00 GMT

The Coca-Cola Co and Nestle's announcement on Friday (6 January) that they are to scale back their global joint-venture, Beverage Partners Worldwide (BPW), may have come as little surprise to many.

Formed in 2001, the JV has struggled to push sales of its RTD iced tea brand Nestea. According to Beverage Digest, the companies sold around 114m cases of the brand globally in 2001. By 2005, that number had dropped to around 93m cases and by 2010 the companies only managed to move around 78.1m cases.

Rival PepsiCo, however, sold around 247m cases of its Lipton iced tea brand in the US in 2010, the publication noted.

In October last year, reports suggested that BPW was reviewing its India-wide roll-out of Nestea as a result of the business "failing to push the product", prompting speculation that the joint-venture was running out of fuel.

On Friday, a spokesperson for Coca-Cola told just-drinks that BPW's focus will now be solely on Europe and Canada.

"The BPW joint venture delivers greater value to both parent companies in markets throughout Europe and Canada and as such, we will continue to operate under this agreement in those markets," the spokesperson said. "In all other markets, we will have more flexibility to accelerate our investments where we see high-growth opportunities."

The new focus for the partnership may be a sign that Nestle has bolstered the position of Nestea in key markets such as China and US, and is now able to go it alone in those countries. Coca-Cola, on the other hand, will need to renew its focus in those countries.

Over the years, Coca-Cola and Nestle have each started to handle other tea brands besides Nestea in the US. Coca-Cola's products include Gold Peak iced tea and the Honest Tea line. The company is also reportedly looking at launching an RTD tea brand under its Fuze label, Beverage Digest has reported.

This may now be a new focus for Coca-Cola in the US, but the company will need to bear in mind that it will be going head-to-head with the RTD market leader PepsiCo and Nestle's Sweet Leaf Tea Co brands.

Australia's ex-PM sinks a beer "for the country"

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:16:00 GMT

Australia's ex-prime minister, Bob Hawke, shows how it's done.

Challenged to down a beer "for the country" at the cricket this week, Hawke took the full pint in his stride and polished it off as if merely signing an autograph.

Only in Australia.

just-drinks is Closed for the Holidays

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:15:00 GMT

To advise, we are closed from tomorrow (24 December) for the festive season. We shall return on Tuesday 3 January.

All of us here at just-drinks wish you a very peaceful break over Christmas and New Year, and we look forward to working with you in 2012.

Merry Christmas & a happy New Year!

UK Government kills ad spend on alcohol

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:28:00 GMT

The UK Government's Department of Health ceased all funding for advertising on responsible drinking in its last fiscal year, new figures show.

Figures revealed by Simon Burns MP in Parliament yesterday (6 December) show that there was no public health advertising around alcohol in the fiscal year to 5 April 2011. Spending fell to zero from GBP3.25m in the previous year.

Instead, ministers have encouraged industry itself to make up the shortfall, via drinks firms' funding of the Drinkaware Trust and also via the Responsibility Deal initiative, introduced earlier this year.

When brand ambassadors go wrong

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 12:30:00 GMT

Those of you who follow me on Twitter will have heard that I met someone off the telly last week.

As brand ambassador for Brand Phoenix's Cafe Collection low-alcohol wine portfolio, the one and only Alesha Dixon came along to the company's evening of tastings, presentations and dinner. Alesha couldn't stay long, as she was due to appear on a chatshow later that evening.

And, what an example she set!

Wine duty forecast: Is this a joke?

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:09:00 GMT

The UK Government thinks that, by 2017, its duty tax receipts on wine will have risen by 58% in value.

That's according to forecasts published the the Government's Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) yesterday (29 November). Even allowing for a continuation of the duty tax escalator on drinks, at 2% above inflation, until at least 2015, this is a bold forecast.

The OBR only makes predictions based on current policy, so it is not basing its prediction on tax rises on wine above the escalator level.

Clearly, then, it is at least partly based on rises in wine consumption by volume over the period. Has the Government seen a UK wine market report this side of the Lehman Brothers meltdown? Growth has been hard to come by.

Stevia gives visitors to Fi Europe plenty to chew over

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 09:52:00 GMT

Stevia was one of the key topics that appeared to be at the forefront of exhibitors' minds as just-drinks' sister site just-food toured this year's Food Ingredients Europe trade show in Paris.

The event, held every two years, is taking place at the sprawling Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition centre, north of the French capital. And, after a less than auspicious start to proceedings in which the computer systems for press badges failed (adding to the long, long queues for visitor passes) and in which the power in the press room went down, the first day at the event yesterday (29 November) was full of fascinating insights from some of the world's largest food ingredient makers.

Unsurprisingly, just three weeks after it won EU approval, intense sweetener stevia was one of the buzzwords (before just-food had even taken a seat at the Cargill stand for a scheduled interview when the show opened, representatives of the US food giant were fielding requests about the product).

Cargill and, later in the day, rival stevia supplier PureCircle both talked about the potential for stevia in food. Until now, the majority of products launched containing stevia have been drinks but both companies believe more food products, including ice cream, yoghurts and even salad dressings, will be introduced that include the zero-calorie, natural sweetener.

There is always some scepticism around the launch of any product or ingredient but stevia seems to have captured the imagination of the industry and is being covered by not just the trade press but by mainstream publications, including Le Monde, which ran a feature discussing the ingredient yesterday.

Both companies were upbeat about the ingredient's potential. PureCircle's global director of marketing and innovation, Jason Hecker, insisted there are a number of consumer trends that would encourage the wider use of stevia. "It's not a [simply] discussion about a zero-calorie ingredient. It's a discussion about obesity, about commodities, about health and wellness and natural. Those are much bigger contexts," he said.

And Hecker also claimed stevia could have a positive impact on a key consideration for food manufacturers - cost.

"Those dynamics are all business propositions [but] we can just as easily have a conversation with a customer about how some of the ingredients in our portfolio can reduce the cost of the formulations in their products. Forget about natural, sustainability and obesity. You can look at this from the perspective of commodity diversification. There are so many propositions to work with. It's really compelling."

As just-food has reported on its pages in the past, there have been concerns around the after-taste of products using the ingredient and, although both Cargill and PureCircle acknowledged there had been those concerns, they pointed to the successful application of their ingredients in products owned by companies from Coca-Cola Co. and Orangina Schweppes to Kraft Foods and PepsiCo.

"Taste is king," Hecker said. "It's not in our interest for there to be bad-tasting products. Early on, there was a lot of touting of [stevia glycoside] reb-A as being the holy grail. We think of stevia as a little bit more of a spice than a sweetener. It's about the total matrix of your application. You need to do application work. You don't just take out sugar, put this in and you're done. A lot of that work has been done. The evidence is not me talking or Cargill talking, it's [PepsiCo beverage brand] SoBe Lifewater as a multi-hundred million dollar business."

Coopering: An enviable skill

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:46:00 GMT

Maybe it's because I stopped being able to 'make things' once I'd grown out of Lego, but I've always had a lot of respect for coopers.

During my years as a drink journalist, I've had a few opportunities to see coopers at work, for example at the Speyside Cooperage. I find it fascinating, partly because I would be so bad at it. The only time I came close to attempting it, I ended up as one part of a duo that failed to even get a few staves to stand upright in a barrel shape.

It's also fascinating because it's one of those skills that can hardly have changed a great deal down the years.

Diageo's new Cambus cooperage, which opened today (28 November), marks a new era in coopering, making greater use of technology to reduce some of the worst heavy lifting.

A few purists are probably raising their eyebrows at such a development, but it makes sense. Impressive as it is, there are quite a few stories of long-term injuries related to the intensity of the manual labour involved in coopering.

The core skill involved, meanwhile, will continue. If you get the chance, go and take a look for yourself.

Surprising(?) figures on UK wine consumers

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:25:00 GMT

Figures released by Accolade Wines show that half of "regular" wine drinkers in the UK don't know that Cabernet Sauvignon is a red wine. And, that's not all.

Among the other insights offer by Accolade's Wine Nation report, published today (23 November), is that only around one in four of wine drinkers questioned knew that Rioja is a wine producing region.

I could carry on, but you get the idea. Of course, it's easy for everyone within the wine industry to sit around chortling about the ignorance of the uncivilised, plonk-swigging masses.

But, before anyone does, is it important that people don't know whether Rioja is a region or simply a type of wine? If they like the style and they seek out the name, one could argue that's all that matters.

I'm all for a bit of education, but you can't force it down people's throats. Many UK consumers buy wine on promotion and will continue to do so until the juice runs dry. Some will take greater interest in the styles on offer. Before that, though, they need to learn to enjoy wine.

Will Aldi give Scotch whisky a headache?

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:13:00 GMT

Aldi has set a few hearts racing in the world of whisk(e)y by daring to sell a bottle of 40-year-old Scotch for just GBP49.99 (US$78), a sixth of its market value.

What an audacious marketing gimmick and what a walloping corker of a move for the Scotch industry to swallow. Obviously, not everyone thinks Glenbridge 40-Year-Old is a bad idea, because somebody has given Aldi the liquid - although we're not quite sure who, yet.

There are, though, going to be people out there who think this is beyond the pale. German discounters Aldi and Lidl have introduced a new dimension - a no-frills, cheap dimension - to food retailing in several countries, including the UK. This is much to the chagrin of some in the industry. Aldi's expansion into discount Scotch, then, will be greeted with a certain amount of suspicion, if not outright annoyance.

For a start, it asks all sorts of difficult questions. How much is 40-year-old Scotch really worth on average? Does the age matter, or does the marketing matter? Some of the early reviews of Glenbridge have been really rather positive. That said, it's hard to know whether this is the result of sound whisky-making or the reviewer's light relief at not imbibing something akin to 40-year-old battery acid. Expectations are everything in this game.

This is clearly a gimmick from Aldi and we're not about to see an influx of 40-year-old Scotch hitting its 450 stores on a regular basis. Only 3,000 bottles will be released this time.

In that context, I don't see the launch as negative. It might even do distillers a favour by giving consumers a glimpse of something better. Maybe, after trying this, they'll be more willing to spend a few more quid in the future.

Sustainability; the name of the game, and we want to play the game with you

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:10:00 GMT

As part of our monthly management briefing series next year, just-drinks will be publishing four reports in 2012 looking at the drive for greater environmental sustainability in the industry sectors we cover – beer, soft drinks & water, spirits and wine.

Each report will comprise four sections and will cover a range of key sustainability issues, such as greenhouse gas emissions, water efficiency, waste, recycling and packaging, and sustainability in raw material supply chains.

The first briefing in the series will look at the beer sector, and will be published in February 2012. We will then look at soft drinks and water in June, the spirits sector in September and the wine industry in November.

Our features editor, Ben Cooper, who specialises in sustainability and corporate responsibility issues, will be writing the reports. Each one will examine efforts both on an industry-wide and company level to foster greater sustainability in each of the sectors.

Here's where you come in. We need as much information as possible from drinks companies about their activities in the environmental sustainability field. To contact Ben with such info, and to arrange interviews, please email ben.cooper@just-drinks.com.

For advertising enquiries relating to the briefings, please contact Ian Preece in our advertising department at ian.preece@aroq.com.