Heineken launches in Australia premium mid-strength beer with lower calories & carbs

The beverage market has significantly changed over the past decade as people get more conscious about their health which is why bottled water sales are up, while soft drinks sales are down. The beer market too feels the pinch, so Dutch beer brand Heineken is introducing in Australia a mid-strength beer with lower calories and carbs.

Heineken 3 is the company’s first new product in two decades to battle lower sales due to competition from premium craft beer. While the beer is tailored for Australia, the country would be a test market for the eventual launch of the beer globally, says Alessandro Manunta, marketing manager of Heineken Lion Australia.

The beer maker runs and brews Heineken in Australia under a joint venture deal with Lion, a food and drinks giant in Australia. Although its sales went down 9.2 percent to $65.8 million in the last 12 months, the joint venture made a small increase in profit as Australian drinkers prefer imported brew.

The drop in sales is apparently across the country since data from the Australia Bureau of Statistics say the beer consumption is down to a 68-year low level. As a percentage of all alcohol consumed, beer consumption’s share plummeted to 41 percent from 75 percent 50 years ago.

However, Manunta notes the rapid growth of the mid-strength segment, at 50 percent annually, so Heineken is targeting daytime drinkers for Heineken 3. He says 50 percent of beer volumes drank in Australia is during daytime, or about 850 million litres of beer, of which 20 percent are mid-strength beer.

The new beer is being marketed with the tagline “Have It All,” communicated on the three attributes of Heineken 3 which are lower calories, lower carbohydrates and an award-winning great taste. According to Marketingmag, the beer has 86 calories per bottle, 5 grammes of carbohydrates and 3.3 percent ABV.

VIDEO: Heineken 3 ingredients

Source: Heineken Ireland