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Believe it or not, finding Foster’s beer in Australia, what international drinkers consider the country’s favorite beer, isn’t easy. In its proverbial homeland, Southern Cross sequined cans escape store shelves and, in 2015, only 10 locations across the country put them on tap. But the brand that fostered Australia’s laid-back drinking culture around the world has decided to relaunch locally, increasing production in Melbourne by 300% over the next few months.
The Carlton and United Breweries, now owned by the Japanese giant Asahi, will be on their nerves, chasing low-cost competitors. Thirty cans of Foster will retail for $ 53, compared to Lion’s XXXX Gold for $ 42.95 and CUB’s Victoria Bitter for $ 59.99.
Today, the 132-year-old lager, which Asahi acquired from Anheuser-Busch InBev earlier this year, is distributed in Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom, where it is the nation’s second most popular beer. Despite being produced in Manchester, the UK commercials still feature Australian accents, sand and sun, with slogans like ‘cool beauties’ and ‘see you a good weekend’.
Foster’s international history dates back to 1888, when two Irish-American brothers began brewing in Melbourne. Preceded by Cascade in 1824, Coopers in 1862 and Carlton in 1864, it was not the first in Australia. But his UK debut campaign in 1971 synonymous Foster’s with local beer, when Barry Humphries called him “Australian for beer” on British television screens.
In the 1980s, Crocodile Dundee’s actor Paul Hogan, who was also the Australian tourism campaigner at the time, became the international boyfriend for “the liquid life buoy”, winning British affection as the cheeky Australian stereotype kissed by the sun.
In 1995 the Simpsons solidified Foster’s reputation as Australia’s favorite beer in “Bart vs Australia”. The can makes multiple cameos, first when Homer orders “one of those famous giant beers I’ve heard so much about”, again when Prime Minister “Andy” is seen floating on a tire in a dam, Foster in hand, and finally , brandished by a turbulent court jury.
Although the relaunch will not be campaign-driven, CUB’s head of classic brands, Hayden Turner, says it’s a brand Australians know and trust, and that he’s confident its popularity will grow again.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has led Australians to embrace nostalgia and long for simpler times,” says Turner.
But with traditional beers on the decline, it’s a gamble. Australia’s craft beer industry is worth over $ 800 million and grew 6.2% from 2015 to 2020, according to Ibis World, while the Australian beer industry as a whole decreased 1.8% in the same. period of time. Ibis World attributes this decline to consumers who increasingly trade “traditional beers, such as Victoria Bitter, for premium and craft beers”.
This won’t be the first time CUB has successfully linked nostalgia. In 2018, he made a foray into fashion with the Victoria Bitter and Melbourne Bitter merchandising lines, including green drawstring caps and T-shirts with old school logos. In July of this year it also brought back the Reschs “Silver Bullet” cans, replaced with bottles in 2005, thanks to a long campaign by the Reschs Appreciation Society.
Jack Stutfield, art director of Mr Simple, the Melbourne-based label that produced the Melbourne Bitter line, says that despite the fact that many of their consumers didn’t drink from cans with 1970s logos, the line was incredibly popular.
“It went around – it sold out in one day,” he says, citing a growing trend among young people towards vintage Aussie. “Especially not being able to travel, people are really supporting more Australian things.”
Australian drinkers are fiercely territorial over their main brand beers. Whether they will be like Homer Simpson and order cans of a beer that is foreign to many Australians remains to be seen.
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