Carlton and United Breweries (CUB) will return to twist tops following a consumer backlash over controversial new ring-pulls on its Carlton Dry bottles.
CUB has apologised to its customers over the caps - which were rolled out in October last year only to meet opposition from the community - and says it will return to its traditional caps.
“We thought this would make Australia’s most uncomplicated beer even simpler. We were wrong. We’ve listened to our consumers and it’s clear they prefer opening their beers the more traditional way.
“So we’re going back to twist tops. It wasn’t broken and we shouldn’t have tried to fix it,” the company said.
The twist-top will return to the market in March on Carlton Dry’s 330ml bottles, which were reduced from 355ml to avoid a price rise. The brewery has pledged not to pass on production cost increases for the next 12 months, or the government’s February hike to the beer tax.
The ring pull tops were initially pitched as an easier way to open Carlton Dry bottles. “No more wondering if you need a bottle-opener or not. No more straining while your mates watch on. Just put your finger in and pull,” CUB said in October. “It couldn’t be simpler, just like the beer.”
In a comment on the Facebook post announcing the switch back to twist tops, CUB also announced it was taking Hi-Cone plastic rings off the top of its cans from March/April this year.
“CUB is committed to always being on the lookout to reduce our packaging’s footprint,” the company said.
