Sydney venture

seeks a taste of beer market

A SYDNEY venture is planning to take on Carlton Breweries (Fiji) Ltd’s near monopoly on the Fijian beer market. Austral Pacific Marketing is behind a new company to be known as Fiji Brewing Co Ltd, which aims to establish a niche market in the country’s

brewing market.

Austral Managing Director Jason Alexander said the company would not tackle Carlton head to head: the existing brewery just had too much muscle for any price-cutting war. Rather, Fiji Brewing will be looking to attract between eight and 10 per cent of the market, which would amount to about one million litres a year.

Its product line will include lager and premium beers, although no actual brand names have yet been chosen - a national competition will be held for this during the year.

One interesting aspect of the venture is that the Fiji Trade and Investment Board has not only approved the project, but granted it unspecified financial concessions and incentives.

Alexander said the brewery would be exporting some of its production after building its domestic base, but the government has not apparently insisted on the exporting of 95 per cent of production a condition for companies operating under the tax-free zone rules.

Austral plans to take between 20 and 30 per cent of Fiji Brewing, and raise the remaining F 52.3 million (US$l.94 mil lion) within the country. The plan is for the local shares to be available for over the-counter trading. Twenty per cent of the shares in the new brewery will be reserved for Fiji residents wanting to apply for small parcels. It is planned that most of the staff will be Fijian.

Carlton has held its monopoly in Fiji since the closure of the Lautoka-based South Seas Brewing Co in the 19705. D