Low-alcohol beer sold below cost

Press, 2 November 1985, Page 5

Low-alcohol beer sold below cost

PA Auckland L. D. Nathan, Ltd, has sold out of low-alcohol beer less than 10 days .after the High Court forbade its sale from supermarkets. The company was left with a big backlog of Northern Light and Isenbeck lowalcohol beer when Mr Justice Barker ruled that it could be sold only from licensed premises and not Woolworths supermarkets. The general manager of Nathan’s food division, Mr Graham Evans, said the beers were sold off below cost at the company’s liquor outlets. Cartons of 24 cans were sold for $9.99 compared with three cans for $2.99 in supermarkets.

“We had to quit it at distress prices,” said Mr Evans. He would not divulge how many cartons were sold below cost, only that it was “too much.” The last of the national backlog was sold on Wednesday. Mr Evans said the company was still keen to sell low-alcohol beer and wine through supermarkets, believing there was a compatibility between food and wine. Low-alcohol beer was a good festive season alternative to full strength brews, said Mr Evans, and the industry would continue lobbying politicians for a change in the law.