Coopers beer boss says Endeavour, Coles cutting back his shelf space
The managing director of Australia’s third largest beer group, Coopers Brewery, says his company is having its shelf and floor space for packaged beer increasingly cut back by liquor retailing giants Endeavour Group and Coles.
Tim Cooper accused the big two retail players of favouring the two large beer companies in Australia, Lion and Asahi Group, which acquired Carlton & United Breweries for $16 billion in 2020, giving it ownership of beer brands Victoria Bitter, Carlton Draught and Crown Lager.
Dr Cooper also said private label beer brands owned by Endeavour and Coles were getting preferential treatment on the shelves of liquor stores they own.
Coopers Brewery managing director Dr Tim Cooper Tim Cooper
Dr Cooper said the situation had worsened with hotel acquisitions by Endeavour Group, as previously independent bottle shops were converted to the BWS brand operated by Endeavour.
He said Endeavour had bought four pubs in South Australia in the past year and converted the bottle shops to BWS and Coopers shelf space had dropped by 50 per cent at those outlets.
Endeavour operates 264 Dan Murphy’s outlets and 1437 BWS stores in its retail division, while it also runs 353 pubs. Dr Cooper said Coopers Brewery’s market share of packaged beer sales in independent liquor stores in Australia was around 7 to 8 per cent, but at the two large retail operators of Endeavour and Coles, it was about 4 per cent.
“Our understanding is that CUB and Lion have negotiated more favourable selling arrangements with Endeavour and Coles,” he said.
A spokesman for Endeavour said “we won’t comment on commercial terms with majors like Coopers, but we proudly have dedicated shelf space for genuine small producers who are constantly innovating to
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