AUSTRALIA – Asahi Beverages, a leading beverage company in Australia and New Zealand, has announced that it will combine its two alcohol businesses i.e. Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) and Asahi Premium Beverages to operate as one entity under the iconic Carlton & United Breweries name.
According to the company, the businesses will be combined by Q4 2020.
The merger of the two businesses will create a strong portfolio of brands including Great Northern, Asahi Super Dry, Carlton Draught, Peroni, Pure Blonde, Mountain Goat, Pirate Life, 4Pines, Balter, Vodka Cruiser, Somersby Cider, Woodstock Bourbon and more.
“Asahi Beverages is proud to be investing in Australia for the long-term. We have incredible confidence in the Australian market and the potential for long-term growth,” Peter Margin, Chairman, Asahi Beverages, said.
The combination of CUB and Asahi will reduce the number of Asahi Beverages business divisions from four to three, with its non-alcohol business Asahi Lifestyle Beverages and Asahi Beverages New Zealand unaffected by the move.
“The combination of CUB and Asahi Premium Beverages will give our customers access to a leading portfolio which will deliver a superior customer experience and excite our consumers. It will also make it easier for our valued suppliers and partners to do business with us,” Robert Iervasi, Group CEO, Asahi Beverages Oceania, said.
“We’re very pleased that Peter Filipovic will continue to lead CUB as CEO of our alcohol Business Division in Australia, joining Stuart Roberts CEO Asahi Lifestyle Beverages and Andrew Campbell CEO Asahi Beverages New Zealand.”
Meanwhile, Asahi Beverages, Pact Group Holdings and Cleanaway Waste Management have formed a joint venture to build a new AUD 45 million (US$32.1 million) recycling plant in Australia.
It is anticipated that the facility will recycle the equivalent of around 1 billion 600ml PET plastic bottles each year, to be used as a raw material to produce food and beverage packaging.
This will see the amount of locally sourced and recycled PET produced in the country increase from around 30,000 tonnes to over 50,000 tonnes per year, according to Pact Group.
Construction of the plant, which will be located in Albury/Wodonga, is expected to start towards the end of the year, pending approval from Albury Council.
The project is anticipated to create over 300 direct and indirect jobs over the course of the build.
Once the plant is operational, Cleanaway will provide the plastic to be recycled through its collection and sorting network, and Pact will provide technical and packaging expertise. Meanwhile, Asahi Beverages and Pact will buy the recycled plastic from the facility to use in their packaging.
The companies’ joint venture will reportedly trade as Circular Plastics Australia (PET).
The project was supported with nearly US$5 million from the Environmental Trust as part of the New South Wales government’s ‘waste less, recycle more’ initiative funded from the waste levy.
“We are delighted to have formed this partnership. We would like to thank the New South Wales government for their support enabling the acceleration of investment in local processing capacity,” Sanjay Dayal, Pact’s managing director and CEO, said.
Asahi Beverages Group CEO, Robert Lervasi, added: “We already have our beverage manufacturing plant in Albury. We are delighted to expand our presence there and create more local jobs. We’ve listened to our consumers and are committed to delivering them more recycled bottles.”
Liked this article? Subscribe to Food Business Africa News, our regular email newsletters with the latest news insights from Africa and the World’s food and agro industry. SUBSCRIBE HERE
