‘Soft drink’ casualties in light-beer war

Press, 12 July 1984, Page 16

‘Soft drink’ casualties in light-beer war

NZPA-AAP Sydney Is a low alcohol beer a soft drink or a beer? Defining this has become the crux of a looming marketing battle between brewery owners for the sale of light alcohol beers in New South Wales.

The latest competitor to the market, Swan Brewery’s Special Light, is the first casualty. On the eve of its official launch in Sydney, the Western Australian company was told by the state Government that under state food product laws the 0.9 per cent alcohol content of Swan Special Light designated it a soft drink. Because New South Wales law says that beer must have a minimum alcohol content of 1.2 per cent, Swan Brewery has been told it cannot market the brew with the words “lager” or “reduced alcohol beer” on the label.

The words, together with the brewery’s famous Black

Swan logo, already appear on the product in Western Australia where it was launched last year, and in the Northern Territory. Swan Brewery will also launch Swan Special Light in Canberra where it is not subject to New South Wales food laws.

As far Swan Brewer/s chairman, Mr Alan Bond, is concerned the limit is just a minor setback in its bid to take 3 per cent of the state’s light-beer market.

Mr Bond told the official launching that Swan Brewery was not daunted, but would market its product in New South Wales without the words which stated that it was a beer. “The Government has said that in the meantime they will have further discussions on what to do,” Mr Bond said.

“We launch a beer, that we cannot tell you is a beer,” he said. But nor would they advertise that it was a soft drink.

According to a Swan Brewery spokeswoman, the company has mounted an intense lobbying campaign to have the Government lower the beer classification limit An equally intense lobby campaign, she said, was also being waged by rival brewers against such a drop. Seven brands are now vying for the New South Wales light beer dollar. Three of these — Swan Special Light, Northern Light, and Export Light — are designated soft drinks.

Included among the brands is another newcomer to the state market, Tooheys 2.2 Lite. Using the former test cricketer, Doug Walters, in its publicity campaign, Tooheys has launched the replacement to its Tooheys Lite in Sydney, boasting that one could drink seven “middies” in 75 minutes and beat the police breath test. Seven “middies” of this beer would give a bloodalcohol reading of 0.14, well under the 0.5 official limit, according to company advertisements. In its official promotion campaign, Swan Brewery

has also enlisted the aid of the former test cricket wicket-keeper, Rodney Marsh.

“In Western Australia the legal limit is 0.8 per cent If you can drink 15 of these in one hour, you would still be under the limit,” he boasts of Swan Special Light. Mr Bona is adamant that Swan Brewery will not sell its new product in outlets such as milk bars because of its legal classification as a soft drink.