Coopers Brewery says it now sells five per cent of the beer consumed in Australia and the company has also reported record sales for the 2014 calendar year.
The South Australian brewer sold 77.3 million litres of beer in the 12 months to December 31, 7.4 per cent more than the previous year.
In August 2013, the South Australian company had 4.5 per cent marketshare, and the company attributes its strong sales growth to its rising interstate sales and its international beer portfolio, which includes Sapporo, Carlsberg, Kronenbourg 1664, Kronenbourg Blanc and Mythos. These now account for more than 10 per cent of the company's beer volumes.
Queensland recorded the highest growth for the year with sales rising 14.5 per cent, ahead of Western Australia (12.6 per cent), Victoria (12.3 per cent) and New South Wales (6.6 per cent).
Sales in the company's home state of South Australia remained steady, though remained Coopers’ largest market, with 25.8 per cent of total sales, just ahead of New South Wales with 25.7 per cent.
Exports also rose 7.2 per cent, thanks to the impact of the falling Australian dollar, Coopers said.
Against this bullish backdrop, however, the company reported falling profits in November due to a consumer shift to bottles in favour of keg beer.
To maintain sales momentum, Coopers and its distribution company Premium Beverages have recently employed another eight sales people around Australia.
According to the company's MD, Dr Tim Cooper, Coopers Original Pale Ale remained the brewery’s flagship product and made up about 52.6 per cent of Coopers’ beer sales, followed by Coopers Sparkling Ale (11.9 per cent), Mild Ale (7.3 per cent) and Coopers Clear (4.8 per cent).
Coopers said its non alcoholic beers, Holsten and Birell also saw rapid growth. Thatchers cider sales were not included in the results.
Dr Cooper said Coopers was currently in the process of installing an additional four fermenters, taking the total number at the brewery to 28, and Coopers is also spending more than $4.5 million early this year to streamline truck movements around the brewery and to cope with ongoing growth.
