Coopers Brewery has opened a new office in New York to help drive its exports into the USA.
The new office is being staffed by Coopers Export Manager, Mr Terry Miniken, who has moved from Adelaide to New York and is working closely with Coopers New York wholesaler, the Union Beer Company, concentrating on New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and other East Coast markets.
Coopers Chairman and Marketing Director Mr Glenn Cooper says the decision to move Mr Miniken to the USA had been made to help Coopers capitalise on America’s growing interest in the Coopers brand, particularly its iconic ales, Coopers Sparkling Ale, Coopers Pale Ale and Coopers Stout.
“We have been working with wholesalers on the east and west coast of America for a number of years and they have been urging us to increase our profile in the US,” he says.
“We’ve decided to bite the bullet and place Terry in New York full time and have appointed expat Australian Michael Cameron to work full time with our importer in California, Priess Imports, who will manage the distribution network on the west coast and the rest of the USA," he says.
“There is a growing appreciation for our ales in the USA craft beer market which we are keen to push."
“Only recently Coopers Pale Ale was named the beer of the week by the Chicagoist, the most popular local blog in that city."
“The Chicagoist described Pale Ale as having a palate ‘filled with light floral and citrus and a medium bitter finish from the hops.’”
Mr Cooper says that basing Mr Miniken in New York meant he would also be in a position to make more frequent visits to the UK and Europe where sales of Coopers have been growing.
Exports currently make up about 3% of Coopers sales but Mr Cooper says he was hopeful of boosting this to 5% in the next few years with the aim of building this to about 8% within five years.
Coopers is presently sold across the US, including through the Outback Steakhouse Chain, which has 775 restaurants and is represented in every American state.
The beers are also popular in California, Texas and Illinois.
Mr Miniken says part of his work would involve meeting with bar and restaurant owners stocking Coopers to train staff on presentation.
“The US is a huge market and there are many opportunities to expand,” he says.
“Coopers’ unique bottle fermentation and the fact there are no additives or preservatives are big selling points.”
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