Constellation Brands, the world’s largest wine company and a leading international producer and marketer of beverage alcohol, has entered into an agreement to sell its spirits business to New Orleans-based Sazerac Company for US$334 million (A$492m). The transaction is expected to close by the end of February 2009. Constellation, which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and owns the Houghton and Hardys brands among others, is retaining the SVEDKA Vodka, Black Velvet Canadian Whisky... ...Read more »

Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, Todd Harper, has proposed removing the current excise on light beer to promote the consumption of products with lower alcohol volumes. “With a rising tide of binge drinking and associated violence and crime, it’s essential that we shift our drinking culture towards lower alcohol alternatives,” Mr Harper said. According to Mr Harper, the tax system provides the best chance to encourage consumers to switch their... ...Read more »

Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket operator, is under investigation for allegedly misleading consumers regarding a cut-price alcohol deal. It has been suggested that the retailer ran a sale while failing to ensure it had enough stock to meet demand - which has been against the law in the UK since May last year. The company will face two separate investigations over the matter - one by tradings standards officers and another from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Trading standards... ...Read more »

Alcohol is an important part of the culinary arts and experience, and new research from America’s National Restaurant Association reveals which alcohol trends will be the hottest on restaurant menus in 2009. A survey of more than 1,600 professional chefs - American Culinary Federation members - ranked micro-distilled/artisan liquor, culinary cocktails and organic wine in the top 20 culinary trends. Also high on the list of trends for the coming year are food-alcohol pairings, craft beer, specialty... ...Read more »

While sales trends have typically favoured white spirits in recent years, brown spirits, led by whiskey, appear to be making a comeback. U.S. sales growth for whiskey and brown spirits is outperforming the growth rate of the overall spirits category in 2008, according to The Nielsen Company. Brown spirits include all whiskeys: Bourbon/Straight, Blends, Canadian, Scotch, Irish, etc., as well as Cognac/Brandy. White spirits include Vodka, Gin, Tequila and Rum, even if such categories might include... ...Read more »

A Queensland boutique brewer has announced the launch of what they believe to be Australia’s first no-carb beer. The product, Bighead, has been created by the Burleigh Brewing Company, an independent craft brewery based in Burleigh Heads on Queensland’s Gold Coast. Burleigh Brewing CEO, Peta Fielding, believes demand for low-carb beers, which continues to strengthen, will see their product find a strong market. “There are a lot of low-carb beers on the Australian market, but only... ...Read more »

Lucky Beer, an Australian brew, has beaten a range of other lagers to win Asda’s beer competition, providing them with an enviable position on the shelves of the UK supermarket. Asda, a subsidiary of Wal-Mart and now the UK’s second biggest supermarket by market share, offered the prize of a 12-week listing at their stores to the winner of their beer competition - which attracted over 100 entries. “In the current climate, it’s essential that new beers offer real a point of... ...Read more »

Tougher restrictions on alcohol advertising have been tabled at a meeting of the nation’s health ministers, with NSW Health Minister John Della Bosca presenting the idea in Brisbane on Friday. The fete of alcohol advertising is now in the hands of the Ministerial Council on Drugs and a strategy group within the health ministers’ conference. “There is a very important opportunity here for a serious debate,” Mr Della Bosca told reporters after the meeting. “The most important... ...Read more »

A ban on ‘all you can drink’ promotions in pubs and bars and on certain supermarket discounts are among a range of new measures announced today by British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and Health Secretary Alan Johnson.Following an independent review, which reportedly discovered a number of retailers not abiding by their own voluntary standards for responsible selling and marketing of alcohol, the government intends to introduce a new mandatory code of practice to target “the most... ...Read more »

The Winemakers’ Federation of Australia (WFA) has labelled the latest action by the Distilled Spirits Industry Council of Australia (DSICA) in delivering look-alike alcopop products to Government Members and Senators, as nothing more than a cynical media stunt. The WFA is supporting attempts to close the loophole that allows the overseas practice of manufacturing so called ‘wine-pops’ and ‘malternatives’ by using alcohol stripped from wine or beer and selling them at... ...Read more »