James Atkinson
Coca-Cola Amatil now has more than 1000 tap points for its fledgling beer and cider brands, more than it ever did under its joint venture with Foster’s, according to CEO Alison Watkins.
At its annual results announcement yesterday, Watkins revealed CCA was now producing the Coors and Blue Moon brands locally as their rollout progresses.
“That gives us some advantages in the freshness of the product,” she said.
“We’re actually really pleased with the progress that we’re making. We now have over 1000 taps in place, that’s more taps than we had under the SAB joint venture, which we terminated in 2011.”
Watkins told TheShout CCA had been careful to ensure it is putting its taps in the right venues.
“A brand like Blue Moon you can put on tap, but unless people really understand what that brand’s all about and you educate the bar staff to serve it with a beautiful slice of orange and make sure the whole experience is there, you won’t achieve much in terms of pull-through,” she said.
In spite of recent scrutiny of CUB and Lion’s allegedly anti-competitive tap contracts, Watkins said the current on-premise environment was in fact favourable for CCA’s challenger brands.
“There are many publicans that are attracted to having a wider range of interesting beers that provide a point of differentiation… so I think our timing is good,” she said.
“We’re certainly finding plenty of scope to fulfil our ambitions at this stage.”
Earnings pressure persists for CCA
Coca-Cola Amatil’s earnings declined by 21.8 per cent to $651.5 million for the full-year, with revenue down by 1.9 per cent to $4.9 billion.
“CCA’s earnings have come under significant pressure in recent years driven by structural changes in the marketplace,” Watkins said.
She said 2014 had been a year of transition with solid progress made in developing and implementing a range of initiatives to stabilise earnings and return the business to growth.
The Australian beverage business reported an earnings decline of 21.3 per cent, while Alcohol, Food & Services earnings were down 7.4 per cent with improvements in SPC earnings offset by declines in alcoholic beverages and services.
“Alcoholic beverage earnings were impacted by declines in the dark spirits category. Jim Beam volume however recorded significant improvements in market share in the second half following the re-introduction of the six pack ready-to-drink offering,” CCA said.