Thursday, December 22, 2011

Aussie Beer Wins Global Vote

wsj.com

Australia’s favorite beers are gaining traction overseas.
Following SABMiller’s acquisition of Foster’s Group for over US$10 billion, Coopers Brewery has been named the world’s top family business of 2011 by London magazine CampdenFB.

Coopers

which enters its 150th year of operation in 2012 — received 38% of votes, trailed by Denmark’s Lego Group and Kenyan retailer Nakumatt which received 20% and 13% respectively. Readers were asked to consider a company’s financial performance as well as its commitment to best practice in areas including government and succession planning.

The largest Australian-owned brewery, in its fifth generation of ownership, defeated other contenders including U.S.-based cosmetic and perfume group Estee Lauder, Ford Motor and Spanish perfume and fashion house Puig.

On Wednesday, Coopers announced it has a 4% market share of all beer sales in Australia and produced a record 62.9 million liters of beer in the 2011 financial year, a touch above the 62 million liters recorded in 2010.

“Coopers has now enjoyed 10% compound annual growth in beer volumes for the past 15 years,” managing director Dr. Tim Cooper said in a statement. “Exports were steady at about 5% of revenue, despite the impact of the high Australian dollar,” he added.

Despite higher production levels, overall turnover in 2011 fell to 173 million Australian dollars (US$173 million) compared with the record A$179 million in 2010 while profit after tax fell to A$23 million from A$23.5 million.

With all this attention, Coopers may soon be known as Australian for beer.

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