The greenest booze brand of them all?

What is the most environmentally-friendly booze brand? Is it the Scotch dram, the Fairtrade Chilean wine or that bottle of locally-brewed beer that you bought in a fit of adventurism? One prominent newspaper is seeking your views.

The Guardian newspaper has been running an interactive debate all week on the most eco-friendly alcoholic drink, prompted by a reader question on the subject.

We are promised answers from the newspaper's gurus tomorrow (3 September) on all things environmental. In terms of sheer size, the world's largest known Irish Coffee should be a strong contender for the least eco-friendly. Or, there's the world's largest beer can. Alternatively, China could sneak in there with its claim to have built a 15ft bottle of wine. Those Chinese; it always has to be bigger, doesn't it?

The point is, any of these would do just as well as anything else. That's because the number of different factors involved make it almost impossible to choose the 'greenest' drink.

I wonder if the Guardian journalists will agree with what they themselves wrote back in 2006. This essentially boiled down to 'buy local', or just go for a drink with people who care about the environment.

Policing drinks adverts on Facebook? Good luck!

I don't envy the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) one bit, and not only because of its line of work. Its new rules on digital advertising could have the watchdog chasing its tail.

Policing the internet has become akin to chasing a virtual goose across the cyber-planet. It conjures up images of some of the grandest dictatorships in the world continually locked in a struggle with some whizz-kid hacker in a stale bedroom.

The internet's infinite depth, lack of respect for national boundaries and ability to afford relative anonymity to streetwise users mean that the UK's ASA will start on the backfoot when it begins to police online drinks marketing more thoroughly in March. Thanks to the UK's dastardly freedom of expression culture, the ASA won't even have the autocratic arsenal of the likes of China or Iran at its disposal.

It was inevitable that authorities would seek to control online marketing more strictly, given the growth in digital advertising. In fact, the UK has gone about it several times more sensibly than France, which simply banned all online advertising for alcoholic drinks while it pontificated on what to do.

However, chasing down individual websites and scouring Facebook to decide whether some guerrilla marketing campaign is "user-generated" or can be traced back to a company is not going to be easy. In the age of austerity, will the ASA have the resources to make this work?

Diageo is in denial on pricing

I am not a supporter of a Scotland-style minimum price on alcoholic drinks, but I find it hard to fathom why significant players in the industry continue to deny any link between price and consumption.

Diageo reiterated at the weekend that it sees no need for "price intervention". It said "there is no evidence globally that it is an effective measure in reducing alcohol-related harm". The World Health Organisation, backed by senior doctors everywhere, begs to differ.   

Diageo's denial is in danger of making the drinks industry look seriously out-dated. Surely, everyone in the drinks industry should be prepared to accept that pricing can play some part in reducing harmful consumption?

Diageo's position - and the same goes for those who share it - is a long way out of sync with mainstream thinking on alcohol policy. Of course, education and social factors play a huge role in drinking habits - and are much more difficult to address than price - but to deny any role for pricing is difficult.

The debate has moved on and price is going to be part of the solution to excess drinking, in the UK at least. The drinks industry should not let itself get left behind, but should play its part in finding a sensible way forward.

Japanese net closing on Australia

Japan's drinks giants are feasting on Australia's drinks sector. Could Foster's be next on the menu?

Asahi's deal to acquire P&N Beverages propels the firm into a strong second place on Australia's soft drinks market - as discussed by us on just-drinks yesterday.

Its move underlines that Japan's trio of Kirin, Suntory and Asahi view Australia as a key part of their growth strategy. Kirin owns Lion Nathan and National Foods, having since merged these two business together, while Suntory has bought the Frucor soft drinks business.

Foster's Group is one of few remaining fruits on the tree. It's hard to argue against a Japanese buyer of Foster's beer division going on the evidence of the past 18 months.

Bank Holiday Madness

A quick heads-up to our global readership: The UK has told us we cannot work this coming Monday (30 August).

We're not allowed to ask why, either.

Back at the coal-face on Tuesday.

Me? I'm off to Berlin, for some doughnuts.

Diageo and its wad of cash

Diageo has built up a significant pile of cash over the last year and speculation is growing as to what the company will do with it.

Diageo had a free cashflow of GBP2bn (US$3.09bn) at the end of its most recent fiscal year. Group CEO Paul Walsh told journalists today (26 August) that the company might consider a share buy-back during the coming 12 months, should economic conditions not worsen.

What is clear, is that the company is keeping a very open mind indeed on how to "return value to shareholders" - and that is likely to fuel more speculation (like this) that the firm is on the acquisition trail.

Does Walsh have Moet Hennessy on speed dial? I hear Cognac is doing well in those emerging markets.

A fruitful year for Vimto

Yesterday (25 August), Nichols announced that Vimto’s brand value has exceeded GBP50m (US$77.2m) for the first time.

The soft drinks firm said the brand is now “significantly outperforming the market", growing at a rate of 31.4% year-on-year in the last year alone. The success, Nichols says, is down to its GBP6m marketing investment for the brand, together with increased distribution and stronger household penetration.

The news is a further sign that big brands are clearly boosting soft drink sales in the UK. The UK soft drinks market grew by 2% in value in 2009, enough for sales in the on-trade to climb ahead of spirits to take the number two spot behind beer.

And with many major UK soft drinks firms churning out strong growth results, it's little wonder that soft drink sales in the UK totalled GBP8.5bn across all channels in 2009.

The major firms are clearly buoying UK sales, suggesting that consumers are sticking to the big brands that they know.

Would you buy Foster's wine business?

Well, would you? No matter how much Foster's tries to spin it, the company's wine business is still on the painkillers.

The last 12 months have provided further grim testimony to the fact that Foster's paid too much for Southcorp's wine business in 2005 and was sorely wrong to attempt to mix grape and grain.

A whopping AUD1.3bn (US$1.16bn) impairment charge on wine assets has left Foster's more than just red-faced for the year to the end of June. It is the third time in as many years that one-off costs relating to the wine business have weighed on earnings: an impairment charge of AUD602m caused profits to plunge by 88% in 2008, while a restructuring charge of AUD400m pinned the firm down in 2009.

Wildly fluctuating currency rates between the AUD and those of key export markets, together with a daunting oversupply problem in Australia's wine industry, have exposed serious cracks in Foster's.

Now, having appointed new leadership and sealed fresh distribution deals in the US, in addition to ditching vineyards and brands, Foster's wants us to understand how its new-look wine business - Treasury Wine Estates - is "gaining traction" in key markets.

It is true that there are some positive signs. Wine earnings before interest and tax for the most recent year rose by 20.5% for the year if calculated at the same currency rates as in 2009 (yet this is an entirely theoretical exercise). Sales to the Americas would actually have grown modestly in value had it not been for currency rates.

Foster's has also made progress on its restructuring plan. More than two thirds of the 5,000 hectares earmarked for sale across Australia and California have been sold off, while the group has divested 37 non-core wine brands. Only five vineyards are left to be sold after another five were recently removed from the transfer-list.

"Our business is starting to look like it's fit to compete," said Foster's CEO Ian Johnston today. Did he mean 'fit for sale'? Afterall, the group's planned demerger of its beer and wine arms is widely expected to attract suitors for the two businesses.

Try as Foster's might, however, things still don't look great - as the company itself admitted today to its credit. "We do expect market conditions in the wine category to remain mixed," Johnston told analysts.

"Despite signs of improvement at the macro level, the wine industry still faces the same issues that have constrained returns for the last couple of years – Australian wine oversupply, soft consumer sentiment in key export markets, negative currency shifts and in the northern hemisphere, growing competition from new world producers," said the firm in its results presentation.    

Hardly an enticing prospect for the time being, is it?

Going to the chapel and we're...

I'm actually off today - not that you'd notice, let's be honest.

Those of you who have been with just-drinks since the earlier days will remember Dean Best, our news editor from 2005 until early 2007. When he left just-drinks he didn't have too far to travel, taking up the role of editor at sister site just-food, where he remains to this day.

See? He's still close to our hearts - and our desks.

Today, Dean will be getting married to his belle, Karen McAteer.

I'll be sure to raise a glass to Mr & Mrs Best on your behalf.

Kim Jong-il's taste for... Perrier Water

Imagine that you are the undisputed head of a dictatorship, complete with nuclear warhead arsenal and with the ability to spend a fifth of your country's income on whatever you so choose.

That's what Kim Jong-il has to contend with every day, and do you know what gets him through? But, of course, it's Perrier Water.

Apparently Nestle's sparkling water brand is just one of life's little luxuries that the Dear Leader cannot do without. Another is Pernod Ricard's Martell Cognac, according to a defector from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Kim Jong-il's taste for Perrier is almost as surprising as news that the coach of the country's football team has been "given a second chance [at life??]" following World Cup disappointment.

I wonder if he's ordered any of those bottles with Dita Von Teese on them...

UK thirst for Budweiser

Glancing at recent sales of Budweiser, there is no wonder that Anheuser-Busch InBev has handed the Stag brewery a stay of execution in the UK.

The brewery is now expected to close at the back end of 2011, rather than at the beginning of the year, as earlier announced by A-B InBev.

Last week's quarterly figures from the brewer give us an insight into its thinking. The firm's sales volumes rose by 11% in the UK in the second quarter, against a market that only just kept its head above the water.

Budweiser sales, in particular, rocketed off a low base - which the brewer has attributed to the brand's position as official sponsor to the FIFA World Cup. England were briefly involved in the tournament.

A contact of mine and long-serving employee at the Stag brewery, based in Mortlake near London, told me earlier this year that the facility was brewing "more Budweiser than ever before".

It seems A-B InBev needs more time to figure out how to maintain supply once the brewery is shut.

Luxury retailers prune wine offerings

In the latest twist on the road to economic redemption, just-drinks understands that most of the high-end retailers in the UK are streamlining their wine offerings.

Luxury retailers, and that would include the likes of Harvey Nichols and Harrods, have been cutting back on the number of wines that they stock, just-drinks hears from a well-placed industry source. This is being done for predominantly economic reasons.

The development adds to a general sense that the UK economy is far from out of the woods, despite having officially left recession for dust with GDP growth of 0.0000001% (not an official figure) in early 2010.

Confusion reigns on UK alcohol policy

The UK Coalition Government's attitude towards alcohol appears confused.

Prime Minister David Cameron this week said that he would look "very sympathetically" on a plan by authorities in Manchester to introduce a minimum price on alcohol in the city.

Yet, for weeks now, we have been told that the Government is not interested in minimum pricing. It does, however, want to curb supply and sales of drinks by banning below-cost sales at retail. There is a consultation on what 'below-cost' means and there is also one underway on the licensing laws.
 
A Home Office spokesperson told me today that minimum pricing is still not very interesting to the Government. If that is the case, then why is David Cameron listening "sympathetically" to Manchester councils?
 
Ministers have declared their support for more decisions to be made at a local level. But, this could easily cause a jumble in terms of policy.

The Government began its term by setting out a reasonably clear stall on alcohol, but has since set about muddying the waters - which could suggest either a lack of cohesive planning or divisions in the Coalition.

The Balvenie reveals Peated Cask whisky

The Balvenie Peated Cask is undoubtedly one of the most unusual products to emerge from master distiller David Stewart's Willy Wonka-style warehouse of late.

just-drinks was one of a select few to attend a first taste of The Balvenie Peated Cask 17 Year Old in London last night (apparently, this site has influence beyond its journalists' immediate families). 

Having not been given details of the new product in advance, we were intrigued to learn that The Balvenie has gone down the peated road.

The finished product is nowhere near the hair-raising league of the Islay single malts, and not really even a match on Talisker's peat flavour, owing to the fact The Balvenie Peated Cask gets its flavour from the casks rather than peated malt.

The result is a light peat smoke on the nose, followed through by The Balvenie's core fruit character, with a little wood and spice.

Is it a winner? I'd say full marks for ingenuity, but the jury's out on the result. Given that only a few thousand cases have been made available worldwide, consumer curiosity among The Balvenie's core fanbase will probably sustain sales.

However, there is a danger that this whisky gets caught in the crack. Fans of peat-heavy whiskies from Scotland's Western Isles might well turn up their noses, while those who prefer a sweeter, fruitier touch could baulk at Balvenie Peated Cask. 

Whatever happens, it's certainly an interesting experiment.

Has BrewDog's bark chased away sales chief?

Could the departure of BrewDog's Richard McLelland for a near-identical position at a rival Scottish brewer suggest tension over BrewDog's publicity-chasing antics?

McLelland is moving to head up sales at Glasgow-based West Brewery, where he knows the founder, Petra Wetzel.

Nothing too sinister about that, you might say. People move within the drinks industry regularly enough, after all.

Yet, there was something about McLelland's comments in today's announcement (11 August) that suggested all was not sweetness and light at BrewDog HQ.

"This was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made," said McLelland. Already, I'm thinking 'ouch'.

"Just look at the way it goes about its business and its reputation; a nimble outfit that’s not shy of sticking its neck out, but one that’s rooted in integrity, decent values and exacting standards," he added of West Brewery.

Now, I've seen plenty of press releases on appointments and that's a pretty frank way of talking, particularly considering that McLelland has come from a direct rival to West.

Could it be that stunts like this have caused a split at camp BrewDog?

Rocking the Mexico beer boat

There are going to be a few sleepless nights for Heineken and Anheuser-Busch InBev's respective affiliate brewers in Mexico, FEMSA Cerveza and Grupo Modelo, over the next four months.

That's because Mexican competition officials are once again investigating whether the two firms' stranglehold on the country's beer market is being maintained by "monopolistic practices".

If you listen to the analysts, exclusive supply deals with independent retailers - which lie at the heart of this case - are an open secret on Mexico's beer market. There have been several previous investigations that have fallen apart.

This time, however, complainant SABMiller thinks its chances of success are higher. There has been a notable change of attitude on competition policy at the highest level in Mexican Government. President Calderon recently introduced fresh legislation to tighten up the rules and give the competition authority, Cofeco, more power.

That said, even should Cofeco change the rules, SABMiller would face a very tall order to build share in a market so powerfully dominated by two other players.

Beating the beer belly

It's the week of the Great British Beer Festival here in London, which means another round of stories about how beer is less fattening than other alcoholic drinks.

The guardians of the long-running Campaign for Real Ale must have been scraping the barrel for news if they needed to drag out this old stodge for another airing.

Firstly, alcohol and health claims is not a winner, if only because I'd wager that most people don't drink booze for the good of their health.

Secondly, take a look round the Great British Beer Festival and you'll also see some Great British Beer Bellies. Clearly something of a marketing problem there.

Thirdly, aren't there better things to talk about? Like how the quality and diversity of beer in the UK is getting better?

Drink beer because it tastes good. Simple.

Molson Coors counts cost of Home Draught recall

Molson Coors' costs increased more quickly than they should have done in the UK in the second quarter of 2010 after the Carling brewer was forced to recall some of its newly launched Home Draught kegs.

Molson Coors pulled several batches of its Home Draught system from sale after receiving a consumer complaint.

How the alarm bells must have initially rung at the brewer's Burton-on-Trent headquarters. When launching a new product, the prospect of a recall must surely be listed under the "worst case scenario" heading.

The group said yesterday (3 August) that the recall contributed to 25% of an increase in sales costs per hectolitre of owned brands in the three months to the end of June. Cost of sales in local currency rose by 8%, excluding one-off pension-related payments, of which 2% was due to the recall.

No disaster, then, but it's not as if the brewer needs any extra problems in what is a particularly tough UK beer market.

Not that the recall held back own-brand volume sales, which returned to growth and crept up by 0.7% in the second quarter.

And the best beer in the UK is...

The bearded overlords at the Campaign for Real Ale have named the best beer in the UK as Harvest Pale from Nottingham's Castle Rock Brewery.

Well, it's been named as the best real ale. And, bearing in mind that most CAMRA members would rather drink petrol than any beer that has been styled as a 'brand', this competition probably doesn't even include all ales.

Still, as a Nottingham-born lad, this news caught my eye today.
    
Castle Rock Brewery is one of several small-time brewers that are, alongside the likes of Greene King, driving renewed interest in ale in the UK.

CAMRA released a survey to mark the opening of the Great British Beer Festival in London today and it shows that more and more adults have at least sampled real ale.

In the midlands, the heartland of several brewers from Castle Rock to Marston's to Molson Coors, almost two thirds of adults surveyed by CAMRA said they had tried real ale. This compares to only a third two years ago.

In the Northeast of the England, around three quarters of adults have sampled real ale, up from one in three two years ago.

Of course, we don't know how many of these people actually drink real ale on a regular basis. But, with more breweries in operation in the UK than at any time since the Second World War, there are clearly positive signs at a time when the beer market as a whole is under pressure.

Lech beer advert leaves Poles cold

It was supposed to be a harmless reference to refreshing beer, but it has ended in SABMiller's Kompania Piwowarska subsidiary being forced to issue a public apology for offending the memory of Poland's recently deceased president.

Somehow, an advert imploring Poles to enjoy a "cold Lech" was placed on a giant billboard near to the tomb of Polish president Lech Kaczynski, who died along with several other Government members in a plane crash earlier this year.

"Allow me to apologise to the members of the European Parliament, Mr Ryszard Czarnecki and Mr Marek Migalski, as well as to anyone else who felt affronted by the unfortunate location of the ad for our beer LECH Premium," said Kompania Piwowarska's director of communications, Pawel Kwiatkowski, today (3 August).

"As the advertising space hire contract expired in the end of July, today we will start dismounting the advertisement placed on Forum Hotel in Kraków," he said on the company's website.

"Any associations between the claim “Thirsty for sensations. Cold LECH” and the late Lech Kaczynski are highly inappropriate, unjustified and improper," he said.

The number of complaints about the advert were the same as those of any standard advert, said the brewer, adding that the billboard was 1km from the ex-president's tomb.

All very honourable, but definitely an 'ouch' moment.