Win-win situation in beer dispute

Johannesburg - Brandhouse Beverages has also welcomed the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruling on its complaint against South African Breweries (SAB) earlier in the year. This follows SAB welcoming the verdict yesterday, so both sides are seemingly happy and claiming victory.

SAB welcomed the ruling on the basis that eight of brandhouse's nine complaints were rejected; brandhouse did so on the basis that the primary focus of its complaint (the ninth) was upheld.

Brandhouse said in a statement on Tuesday: "The ASA held that SAB's claims in its advertising constituted a deliberate and derisive attach on brandhouse with a clear intention to smear the new Amstel 660ml product." (Actually, the issue was not the contents but the bottle.)

The brandhouse statement said the ASA found the SAB catalogue was disparaging of the Amstel brand, and thus contravened the ASA code.

"Amstel's recommended selling price of R10 made it possible for tavern consumers, should they exercise their discretion to follow the recommended price, to trade up to Amstel from SAB mainstream beers. The 660ml returnable bottle - the national standard size for premium returnable beer - replaced the 750ml non-returnable bottles. This represented a 12% reduction in volume, with a commensurate 13% price reduction."

"Our intention is clear," said Brandhouse MD Gerald Mahinda. "Brandhouse will continue to use innovation to offer both our trade customers and consumers greater choice, value and increased access to our brands."

The dispute started in May, when Amstel launched a national advertising campaign - Ask Why? - in support of its R10 recommended price in bars. Other premium beers sell for about R12 for a larger bottle.

Brandhouse, which markets and distributes Amstel, Heineken and Windhoek premium beers, claimed SAB was trying to persuade taverners to sell Amstel at more than R10 for the 660ml returnable bottle. If someone tries to charge you more, says Brandhouse advertising, "Ask why".

However, SAB denied there was anything underhand in its communications with retailers. It said it was merely explaining that the Amstel "quart" bottle contains 12% less beer than the old bottle - "part and parcel of a tradition of helping small businesses".

It said its communication with retailers "has been designed to inform the market on the changes in Amstel's new product, after brandhouse downsized their quart bottle. At first glance, the bottle is similar in size and geometry to the long-standing 750ml package, but it contains 12% less beer."
 
 - Fin24.com