Foster's Lager is an internationally distributed Australian brand of beer. It is also brewed under licence in many countries, including the USA^[1], Canada and the People's Republic of China. The European rights to the beer are owned by Scottish & Newcastle plc, who brew and distribute Foster's in most European countries including; the United Kingdom, Greece, France, Belgium, Portugal, Finland, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the Republic of Ireland. In India the rights to the brand are owned by SABMiller.^[2] Image File history File linksMetadata Fosters_pint. ... For other uses, see Beer (disambiguation). ... SABMiller (South African Breweries - Miller) (LSE: SAB, JSE: SAB,Official site) is one of the world’s largest brewers, with brewing interests and distribution agreements in over 60 countries across six continents. ...

The Foster's brand is also used in Australia on several other beers, notably Foster's Light Ice, a low-alcohol pale lager. (North) American lagers, as defined by the Association of Brewers, are a family of very pale to golden colored beers with light body and low to medium bitterness. ...

Recent statistics show that 30 pints of Foster's are consumed every second in the U.K. alone.^[3]

History

Locally brewed^[4] Foster's first "arrived" in the UK with Paul Hogan proclaiming it tasted "like an angel crying on your tongue".^{[citation needed]} However, Foster's Lager had already been imported in large quantities from Australia in its distinctly blue, white and gold cans since the early 1970's. At that time there was a considerable expatriate Australian community in Britain, notably in London in the suburb of Earl's Court, often referred to as "Kangaroo Valley". A mixture of young professionals and alleged "draft dodgers"^[5], they created a demand for the importing of numerous Australian products, including Foster's Lager. Paul Hogan starring as Crocodile Dundee. ... Earls Court is a place in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in London, England. ...

Awareness of the brand was spread in Britain by the satirical political magazine "Private Eye" which ran a cartoon series "The Adventures of Barry McKenzie" , featuring a bumbling Foster's swilling Australian "ex-pat". Private eye may mean: Look up Private eye on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Private Eye a fortnightly British satirical magazine-newspaper, edited by Ian Hislop (as of 2005) A private investigator, a private detective for hire (see also crime fiction and detective fiction) Private Eye, a song by Alkaline Trio...

In Britain, the Courage brewing group was acquired in 1986 by Australian "corporate raider" John Elliott. Perceiving the increasing popularity of imported Foster's Lager, it was decided to commence local brewing of the product by Courage. John Dorman Elliott (born 1941) is a formerly successful Australian businessman, former president of the Liberal Party, and former president of Carlton Football Club who suffered a downfall in 2003 when he was found guilty of allowing a business to operate while insolvent. ...

Popularity in Australia

While popular in many countries, particularly where it is brewed locally, Foster's Lager does not enjoy widespread popularity in Australia. As a bottled beer produced by the Foster's Group (formerly the Carlton United Beverages group (CUB)) it is rarely promoted in Australia. Once a "premium" brand, Foster's Lager has been bypassed in favour of the Foster's Group's favoured premium brands of Carlton Crown Lager and Stella Artois.^[6] Fosters Group is a beer group with interests in brewing, wine-making and soft drinks. ... Stella Artois logo A Common 330 ml Bottle of Stella Artois Stella Artois brewery in Leuven This article is about Stella Artois lager. ...

Australians are parochial about their beers; few beers are popular Australia wide. Beers popular in Australia include:

• Victoria
  • Victoria Bitter
  • Carlton Draught
• Queensland
  • XXXX
• Tasmania
  • Cascade Draught
  • Boags Draught
• New South Wales
  • Tooheys
• South Australia
  • Coopers
  • West End
  • Southwark

• Western Australia
  • Swan
  • Emu Bitter

In Australia until the end of the 1970's, Foster's Lager was a reasonably popular bottled and canned beer with a somewhat premium image. Then in the early 1980's there were major changes in the Australian brewing industry, including the merger of Castlemaine (Brisbane), Swan (Perth) and Toohey's (Sydney) into a national brewing group, as a result of acquisitions by Perth entrepreneur Alan Bond. In Queensland the high-volume Power's brewery was established by local entrepreneur Bernie Power. Victoria Bitter, or VB, as it is commonly called, has the highest market share of all beer sold in Australia, both on tap and packaged. ... Carlton Draught Can Carlton Draught is a lager beer made by Carlton & United Beverages. ... XXXX (pronounced four-ex) is a brand of beers brewed in Milton, Brisbane by Queensland brewers, Castlemaine Perkins. ... The Cascade Brewery, with Mount Wellington in the background Cascade Brewery is the oldest brewery in Australia. ... Boags Brewery is a brewery run by J. Boag & Sons and is located in Launceston, Australia. ... Tooheys is an Australian brewery in the suburb of Lidcombe, New South Wales in Sydney, New South Wales. ... Coopers Brewery is an Australian company, publicly owned but not listed with a stock exchange. ... West End is a South Australian-brewed beer. ... For other places with the same name, see Southwark (disambiguation). ... The old Swan brewery buildings viewed from the Narrows The Swan Brewery (, ) was founded in the centre of Perth, Australia in 1837. ... Emu Bitter logo Emu Bitter, colloquially known as EB or Kenny, is a full-strength lager brewed by the Lion Nathan-owned Swan Brewery in Western Australia. ... Location of Perth within Australia This article is about the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia. ... There are two people called Alan Bond: Alan Bond (businessman) Alan Bond (rocket developer) Categories: Disambiguation ...

Faced with inroads into its non-Victorian markets, Carlton and United Breweries (CUB) reviewed its product range and attempted to re-position some of its brands. So Foster's Draught was introduced, served on tap alongside established draught brands such as Castlemaine XXXX and Toohey's New. Despite some initial success, bolstered by heavy advertising, the brand did not prove popular and was eventually withdrawn from sale. Arguably, at the end of this failed exercise Foster's Lager was no longer viewed by consumers as a "premium" brand, and has not been promoted in Australia recently.

The Foster's Group has tended to promote the brands of Carlton Draught (mainstream market) and Victoria Bitter (working class male market).^[7] As an "also-ran", Foster's Lager will no doubt be brewed as a bottled and canned beer in Australia for the foreseeable future, at least for sentimental reasons. These days (2007), it is relatively difficult to find in smaller bottle shops, and is seldom found on tap. Carlton Draught Can Carlton Draught is a lager beer made by Carlton & United Beverages. ... Victoria Bitter, or VB, as it is commonly called, has the highest market share of all beer sold in Australia, both on tap and packaged. ...

On an ironic note, Power's Brewery, south of Brisbane, was taken over by CUB^[8] and is now used to brew Victoria Bitter and other Foster's Group brands in Queensland, (including Foster's Lager).

Current status

In April 2006, Scottish & Newcastle plc announced that it has agreed to acquire the Foster’s brand in Europe (including Turkey), the Russian Federation and other countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States from Foster’s Group Limited for approximately £309 million. In August 2006, SABMiller announced that it had bought the rights to the Foster's brand in India for a reported $120m from private investors.^[9][10] Scottish & Newcastle is one of the worlds leading brewers, and the largest British brewing company (unless London-based SABMiller, which does very little business in the UK, is counted as British). ...  Member state  Associate member Headquarters Minsk, Belarus Working language Russian Type Commonwealth Membership 11 member states 1 associate member Leaders  -  Executive Secretary Viktor Yanukovych Establishment December 21, 1991 Website http://cis. ... SABMiller (South African Breweries - Miller) (LSE: SAB, JSE: SAB,Official site) is one of the world’s largest brewers, with brewing interests and distribution agreements in over 60 countries across six continents. ...

Whilst very popular globally, as mentioned above Foster's Lager is not a high selling beer in Australia. It is easily outsold by popular Australian beers (such as Victoria Bitter and Carlton Draught), the local "Favourite beer" (e.g. XXXX in Queensland) and even locally brewed versions of international beers such as Heineken.

Slogans

Foster's Lager uses the slogan "The Amber Nectar" in Australia and the UK and "Australian for Beer" elsewhere overseas. The overseas advertising of the product often focuses upon the Australian connotations of the beer, e.g. with reference to stereotypical Australian imagery such as kangaroos, exaggerated accents, and cork hats. Species Macropus rufus Macropus giganteus Macropus fuliginosus Macropus antilopinus A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning large foot). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the Red Kangaroo, the Antilopine Kangaroo, and the Eastern and Western Grey Kangaroo... A cork hat is a type of headgear with cork strung from the brim, to ward off insects. ...

Variants

Scottish & Newcastle has also launched Foster's Twist, a beer with a hint of citrus that is marketed as a refreshing alternative to other heavier beers and Premium Packaged Spirits such as Smirnoff Ice. Foster's Twist is 4.5% abv. Premium Packaged Spirits or PPS is a category of RTD (Ready-To-Drink) alcoholic beverages in the European marketplace. ... Smirnoff is a famous vodka distillery founded in Moscow. ...

There is also Fosters Super Chilled, which is served at a colder temperature and is available in pubs and bars.

In the UK, customers are also able to purchase a keg of Fosters for private parties, collecting and returning the keg at a participating store or public house.

Sponsorships

Foster's Lager were sponsors of Norwich City Football Club from 1988 until 1993. At its commencement, the sponsorship by Foster's was the most lucrative sponsorship ever given to an English football club. Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

References and notes

Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000...

External links

• Foster's in the UK
• Foster's Twist
• Interview with CEO of Foster's Group
• Foster's History