Foster's Lager
Encyclopedia
Foster's Lager is an internationally distributed Australia
n brand of 5.0% abv
pale lager
, (4% in the UK.) It is a product of Foster's Group
brewed under licence in several countries, including the U.S. and Russia. The European rights to the beer are owned by Heineken International, who brew and distribute Foster's in most European countries, including: the United Kingdom, Greece, France, Belgium, Portugal, Poland, Finland, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and Ireland. In the United States and India, rights to the brand are owned by SABMiller
. In Canada, Foster's is brewed by Molson
Canada under licence from Foster's Brewing International.
The Foster's brand is also used on several other beers, including Foster's Premium Ale, and Fosters ESB (Extra Special Bitter) which has been discontinued.
In recent years, Foster's has consistently sold in the region of 5 million hectolitres each year in the UK, making it the best selling beer after Carling
. While international marketing of the beer often focuses on its Australian connections, Foster's does not enjoy widespread popularity in Australia.
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", from about 1964 onwards.
In Britain, the Courage brewing group was acquired in 1986 by Australian businessman John Elliott. Perceiving the increasing popularity of imported Foster's Lager, it was decided to commence local brewing of the product by Courage.
(formerly the Carlton United Beverages group (CUB)) it has rarely been promoted in Australia since the early 2000s. 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
.
In Australia until the end of the 1970s, Foster's Lager was a reasonably popular bottled and canned beer with a somewhat premium image. Then in the early 1980s 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 Beverages(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).
Power's Brewery, south of Brisbane, was taken over by CUB and is now used to brew Victoria Bitter and other Foster's Group brands in Queensland, (including Foster's Lager).
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.
There is also Foster's Super Chilled, which is served at a colder temperature and is available in pubs and bars.
In 2008, Foster's was introduced with a widget
called a "scuba" placed into the can to ensure good mixing. This variant is only currently available in the UK.
In the UK, customers are also able to purchase a keg of Foster's for private parties, collecting and returning the keg at a participating store or public house.
s, exaggerated accents, and cork hat
s.
The 2009 campaign for Foster's contains two 40-second adverts, "Backpacker" and "Deep Sea"; both end with the slogan, "Foster's – get some Australian in you."
The Foster's Lager brand was used as an advertising sponsorship deal with Norwich City Football Club
from 1986 to 1989 (a period which included two top five finishes and a run to the FA Cup semi-finals). At its commencement, the sponsorship by Foster's was the most lucrative sponsorship ever given to an English
football club.
The brand sponsored F1 events regularly from 1986 to 2006. During this period it was the title sponsor for the Australian GP (1986–1993 and 2002–2006), the British GP (1990–1993 and 2000–2006) and the San Marino GP (2003–2006). It also was the prime sponsor and trackside sponsor of many other Grand Prix during this time. The brand was also used in a sponsorship deal with the A1 Team Australia
from 2005 to 2007.
The brand is currently used in a major sponsorship deal with the ASP World Tour.
During recent years the Fosters UK division of the brand focussed on cultivating comedy-centric advertising and sponsorship arrangements and on the 9th of November 2011 they launched a trailer for their sponsored, online-only version of the hit 90's television show The Fast Show.. The six, weekly episodes start on the 10th of November 2011 and feature the original cast (with the exception of Mark Williams) and many of the characters from the previous series. .
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n brand of 5.0% abv
ABV
ABV is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* Alcohol by volume, a measure of the alcohol content of alcoholic drinks* Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Nigeria, from its IATA airport code...
pale lager
Pale lager
Pale lager is a very pale to golden-coloured beer with a well attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid 19th century when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale brewing techniques back to the Spaten Brewery in Germany and applied it...
, (4% in the UK.) It is a product of Foster's Group
Foster's Group
Foster's Group is a beer group with interests in brewing and soft drinks. Foster's Group is the brewer of the Foster's Lager. Foster's Group Limited is a publicly-listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange and is based in Melbourne, Victoria...
brewed under licence in several countries, including the U.S. and Russia. The European rights to the beer are owned by Heineken International, who brew and distribute Foster's in most European countries, including: the United Kingdom, Greece, France, Belgium, Portugal, Poland, Finland, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and Ireland. In the United States and India, rights to the brand are owned by SABMiller
SABMiller
SABMiller plc is a global brewing and bottling company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's second-largest brewing company measured by revenues and is also a major bottler of Coca-Cola. Its brands include Grolsch, Miller Genuine Draft, Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Pilsner Urquell...
. In Canada, Foster's is brewed by Molson
Molson
Molson-Coors Canada Inc. is the Canadian division of the world's fifth-largest brewing company, the Molson Coors Brewing Company. It is the second oldest company in Canada after the Hudson's Bay Company. Molson's first brewery was located on the St...
Canada under licence from Foster's Brewing International.
The Foster's brand is also used on several other beers, including Foster's Premium Ale, and Fosters ESB (Extra Special Bitter) which has been discontinued.
In recent years, Foster's has consistently sold in the region of 5 million hectolitres each year in the UK, making it the best selling beer after Carling
Carling
Carling brands are currently owned by the Molson Coors Brewing Company. In South Africa it is distributed by SABMiller.Carling Black Label is the name of a brand of Canadian lager in Australia, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and South Africa...
. While international marketing of the beer often focuses on its Australian connections, Foster's does not enjoy widespread popularity in Australia.
History
Foster's Lager has been imported into the UK from Australia in its 16 oz distinctive blue, white and gold cans since the early 1970s.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
Barry McKenzie
Barry "Bazza" McKenzie is a fictional character originally created by the Australian comedian Barry Humphries for a comic strip, written by Humphries and drawn by New Zealand artist Nicholas Garland, in the British satirical magazine Private Eye.-Background:The Private Eye comic strips were...
", featuring a bumbling Foster's swilling Australian "ex-pat", from about 1964 onwards.
In Britain, the Courage brewing group was acquired in 1986 by Australian businessman John Elliott. Perceiving the increasing popularity of imported Foster's Lager, it was decided to commence local brewing of the product by Courage.
Australian market
While popular in many countries, particularly where it is brewed locally, Foster's Lager does not enjoy widespread success in Australia. As a bottled beer produced by the Foster's GroupFoster's Group
Foster's Group is a beer group with interests in brewing and soft drinks. Foster's Group is the brewer of the Foster's Lager. Foster's Group Limited is a publicly-listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange and is based in Melbourne, Victoria...
(formerly the Carlton United Beverages group (CUB)) it has rarely been promoted in Australia since the early 2000s. 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
Stella Artois
Stella Artois is a 5% ABV lager brewed in Leuven, Belgium since 1926. In the UK, Canada and New Zealand a 4% ABV version is also available.-Production:...
.
In Australia until the end of the 1970s, Foster's Lager was a reasonably popular bottled and canned beer with a somewhat premium image. Then in the early 1980s 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
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
entrepreneur Alan Bond
Alan Bond (businessman)
Alan Bond is an Australian businessman noted for his criminal convictions and high-profile business dealings, including what was at the time the biggest corporate collapse in Australian history. Bond was born in the Hammersmith district of London, England, and emigrated to Australia with his...
. 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 Beverages(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
Carlton Draught
Carlton Draught is a 4.6% pale lager made in Australia by Carlton & United Beverages.-Description:Carlton Draught is a pale lager which is sold on tap in its home state of Victoria as well as in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, and is one of Australia's most...
(mainstream market) and Victoria Bitter
Victoria Bitter
Victoria Bitter is one of the many iconic beers manufactured in the Australian state of Victoria. VB currently maintains the highest market share of all beer sold in Australia, both on tap and packaged...
(working class male market).
Power's Brewery, south of Brisbane, was taken over by CUB and is now used to brew Victoria Bitter and other Foster's Group brands in Queensland, (including Foster's Lager).
Global market
In April 2006, Scottish & Newcastle plc announced that it had agreed to acquire the Foster’s brand in Europe (including Turkey), the Russian Federation and other countries in the Commonwealth of Independent StatesCommonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
from Foster’s Group Limited for approximately £309 million. In August 2006, SABMiller
SABMiller
SABMiller plc is a global brewing and bottling company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's second-largest brewing company measured by revenues and is also a major bottler of Coca-Cola. Its brands include Grolsch, Miller Genuine Draft, Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Pilsner Urquell...
announced that it had bought the rights to the Foster's brand in India for a reported $120m from private investors.
Variants
Scottish & Newcastle 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. It has since been withdrawn from the market.There is also Foster's Super Chilled, which is served at a colder temperature and is available in pubs and bars.
In 2008, Foster's was introduced with a widget
Widget (beer)
A widget is a device placed in a container of beer to manage the characteristics of the beer's head. The original widget was patented in Ireland by Guinness. The "floating widget" is found in cans of beer as a hollow plastic sphere, 3 cm in diameter with a small hole in one side...
called a "scuba" placed into the can to ensure good mixing. This variant is only currently available in the UK.
In the UK, customers are also able to purchase a keg of Foster's for private parties, collecting and returning the keg at a participating store or public house.
Marketing
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 kangarooKangaroo
A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...
s, exaggerated accents, and cork hat
Cork hat
A cork hat is a type of headgear with cork strung from the brim, to ward off insects.Traditionally worn by jackaroos and swagmen in the blow-fly infested Australian outback, the cork hat has become part of the stereotypical representation of the Australian ocker. The shape and material of cork hats...
s.
The 2009 campaign for Foster's contains two 40-second adverts, "Backpacker" and "Deep Sea"; both end with the slogan, "Foster's – get some Australian in you."
The Foster's Lager brand was used as an advertising sponsorship deal with Norwich City Football Club
Norwich City F.C.
Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...
from 1986 to 1989 (a period which included two top five finishes and a run to the FA Cup semi-finals). At its commencement, the sponsorship by Foster's was the most lucrative sponsorship ever given to an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
football club.
The brand sponsored F1 events regularly from 1986 to 2006. During this period it was the title sponsor for the Australian GP (1986–1993 and 2002–2006), the British GP (1990–1993 and 2000–2006) and the San Marino GP (2003–2006). It also was the prime sponsor and trackside sponsor of many other Grand Prix during this time. The brand was also used in a sponsorship deal with the A1 Team Australia
A1 Team Australia
A1 Team Australia is the Australian team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :The team chairman is former-Formula One world champion Alan Jones, backed by general manager and former NASCAR driver Peter Nolan...
from 2005 to 2007.
The brand is currently used in a major sponsorship deal with the ASP World Tour.
During recent years the Fosters UK division of the brand focussed on cultivating comedy-centric advertising and sponsorship arrangements and on the 9th of November 2011 they launched a trailer for their sponsored, online-only version of the hit 90's television show The Fast Show.. The six, weekly episodes start on the 10th of November 2011 and feature the original cast (with the exception of Mark Williams) and many of the characters from the previous series. .
External links
- Official UK Website, www.fosters.co.uk
- Official UK Fosters Funny Campaign Website, www.fostersfunny.co.uk
- Interview with Trevor O'Hoy, CEO of Foster's Group in 2006.
- Foster's History, www.australianbeers.com