We Got it Wrong: Cascade on Pale Ale Downsize

By Ian Neubauer

Foster’s-owned Cascade Brewery has admitted it made a mistake when it reduced the size of its Pale Ale product by 45ml and said the beer will return to its original size.

“I’m writing on behalf of Cascade Brewery, and thought you might be interested to know that we are moving Cascade Pale Ale back to a 375ml twist top bottle,” said Cascade Brewery general manager, Dom Bury, in a statement.

“We made a decision to change the packaging on most of the Cascade range, driven by our consumer research, which suggested the brand needed to become more relevant to today’s beer drinkers,” Bury said of the new slim-line, European-styled bottle. “We got it wrong… We regret that we upset you.”

The announcement was posted on an online forum and follows an online campaign that saw thousands of consumers voice disapproval on protestor websites and the social network portal Facebook.

The mainstream media described the move as victory for beer drinkers and a backdown by a brewing giant that had been scandalised in its attempt to short-change consumers.

It is not the first time consumers have resorted to online mediums to protest over changes to Cascade’s range of premium beers. In 2006, bloggers criticised the brewer for changing over to stock Carlton United yeast.

Cascade Pale Ale will revert to its old size from early November in Tasmania, with the rest of Australia following next year.

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[Fri 31/10/2008 12:50:18]