Foster's Lager

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Foster's Lager is an internationally distributed Australian brand of filtered beer. It is also brewed under licence in many countries, including the USA,^[1] Canada and the People's Republic of China. The European rights to the beer are owned by Scottish & Newcastle, who brew and distribute Foster's in most European countries including; the United Kingdom, Greece, France, Belgium, Portugal, Finland, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the Republic of Ireland. In the U.S and India, rights to the brand are owned by SABMiller.^[2]

The Foster's brand is also used in Australia on several other beers, notably Foster's Light Ice, a low-alcohol pale lager.

Recent statistics show that on average, 30 pints of Foster's are consumed each second in the U.K. alone.^[3]

1 History
2 Unpopularity in Australia
3 Current status
4 Slogans
5 Variants
6 Sponsorships
7 References and notes
8 External links

[edit] History

Locally brewed^[4] Foster's first "arrived" in the UK with Paul Hogan proclaiming it tasted "like an angel crying on your tongue".^{[citation needed]} However, Foster's Lager had already been imported in large quantities from Australia in its distinctly blue, white and gold cans since the early 1970s. At that time there was a considerable expatriate Australian community in Britain, notably in London in the suburb of Earl's Court, often referred to as "Kangaroo Valley". A mixture of young professionals and alleged "draft dodgers",^[5] they created a demand for the importing of numerous Australian products, including Foster's Lager.

Awareness of the brand was spread in Britain by the satirical political magazine "Private Eye" which ran a cartoon series "The Adventures of Barry McKenzie" , featuring a bumbling Foster's swilling Australian "ex-pat".

In Britain, the Courage brewing group was acquired in 1986 by Australian "corporate raider" John Elliott. Perceiving the increasing popularity of imported Foster's Lager, it was decided to commence local brewing of the product by Courage.

[edit] Unpopularity in Australia

While popular in many countries, particularly where it is brewed locally, Foster's Lager does not enjoy widespread popularity in Australia. As a bottled beer produced by the Foster's Group (formerly the Carlton United Beverages group (CUB)) it is rarely promoted in Australia. Once a "premium" brand, Foster's Lager has been bypassed in favour of the Foster's Group's favoured premium brands of Carlton Crown Lager and Stella Artois.^[6]

Australians are parochial about their beers; few beers are popular Australia wide. The top selling beers in each state are:^{[citation needed]}

New South Wales
- Tooheys
- Victoria Bitter
Queensland
South Australia
Tasmania
- Cascade Draught
- Boags Draught
Victoria
Western Australia
- Swan

In Australia until the end of the 1970's, Foster's Lager was a reasonably popular bottled and canned beer with a somewhat premium image. Then in the early 1980's there were major changes in the Australian brewing industry, including the merger of Castlemaine (Brisbane), Swan (Perth) and Toohey's (Sydney) into a national brewing group, as a result of acquisitions by Perth entrepreneur Alan Bond. In Queensland the high-volume Power's brewery was established by local entrepreneur Bernie Power.

Faced with inroads into its non-Victorian markets, Carlton and United Breweries (CUB) reviewed its product range and attempted to re-position some of its brands. So Foster's Draught was introduced, served on tap alongside established draught brands such as Castlemaine XXXX and Toohey's Draught. Despite some initial success, bolstered by heavy advertising, the brand did not prove popular and was eventually withdrawn from sale. Arguably, at the end of this failed exercise Foster's Lager was no longer viewed by consumers as a "premium" brand, and has not been promoted in Australia recently.

The Foster's Group has tended to promote the brands of Carlton Draught (mainstream market) and Victoria Bitter (working class male market).^[7] As an "also-ran", Foster's Lager will no doubt be brewed as a bottled and canned beer in Australia for the foreseeable future, at least for sentimental reasons. These days (2007), it is relatively difficult to find in smaller bottle shops, and is seldom found on tap.

On an ironic note, Power's Brewery, south of Brisbane, was taken over by CUB^[8] and is now used to brew Victoria Bitter and other Foster's Group brands in Queensland, (including Foster's Lager).

[edit] Current status

In April 2006, Scottish & Newcastle plc announced that it has agreed to acquire the Foster’s brand in Europe (including Turkey), the Russian Federation and other countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States from Foster’s Group Limited for approximately £309 million. In August 2006, SABMiller announced that it had bought the rights to the Foster's brand in India for a reported $120m from private investors.^[9]^[10]

Whilst very popular globally, as mentioned above Foster's Lager is not a high selling beer in Australia. It is easily outsold by popular Australian beers (such as Victoria Bitter and Carlton Draught), the local "Favourite beer" (e.g. XXXX in Queensland) and even locally brewed international beers such as Heineken.

[edit] Slogans

Foster's Lager uses the slogan "The Amber Nectar" in Australia and the UK and "Australian for Beer," performed by Bob Ingersole, elsewhere overseas. The overseas advertising of the product often focuses upon the Australian connotations of the beer, e.g. with reference to stereotypical Australian imagery such as kangaroos, exaggerated accents, and cork hats.

The most recent slogan in the UK is, "Well you wouldn't want a warm beer would ya". This slogan goes with the comic advertisements that are currently featured on UK television.

[edit] Variants

Scottish & Newcastle has also launched Foster's Twist, a beer with a hint of citrus that is marketed as a refreshing alternative to other heavier beers and Premium Packaged Spirits such as Smirnoff Ice. Foster's Twist is 4.5% abv.

There is also Fosters Super Chilled, which is served at a colder temperature and is available in pubs and bars.

In 2008, Fosters Scuba was introduced, in which a widget is placed into the can to ensure good mixing.^{[citation needed]} This variant is only currently available in the UK.

In the UK, customers are also able to purchase a keg of Fosters for private parties, collecting and returning the keg at a participating store or public house.

[edit] Sponsorships

Foster's Lager were sponsors of Norwich City Football Club from 1988 until 1993. At its commencement, the sponsorship by Foster's was the most lucrative sponsorship ever given to an English football club.