Foster's Group Pty. Ltd. was an Australian beer group with interests in

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...

and

soft drinks A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a class of non-alcoholic drink, usually (but not necessarily) carbonated, and typically including added sweetener. Flavors used to be natural, but now can also be artificial. The sweet ...

, known for

Foster's Lager Foster's Lager is an internationally distributed brand of Australian lager. It is owned by the Japanese brewing group Asahi Group Holdings, and is brewed under licence in a number of countries, including its biggest market, the UK, where t ...

, now called

Carlton & United Breweries Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) is an Australian brewing company based in Melbourne and owned by Japanese conglomerate Asahi Breweries. Its notable brands include Victoria Bitter, Carlton Draught, Foster's Lager, Great Northern, Resch's, ...

since the company was renamed in 2011. Foster's was founded in 1888 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

by two American brothers, who sold the brewery a year later. The company was renamed prior to sale to British-South African multinational

SABMiller SABMiller plc was an Anglo–South African multinational brewing and beverage company headquartered in Woking, England on the outskirts of London until 10 October 2016 when it was acquired by AB InBev for US$107-billion. It was the world's sec ...

in 2011. Foster's wine business was split into a separate company,

Treasury Wine Estates Treasury Wine Estates is an Australian global winemaking and distribution business with headquarters in Melbourne. It was formerly the wine division of international brewing company Foster's Group. History Background Treasury Wine Estates trac ...

, in May 2011. In October 2016

Anheuser-Busch InBev Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, known as AB InBev, is an American-Belgian Multinational corporation, multinational Drink industry, drink and brewing company, brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium. It is the largest brewer in the world, and in 20 ...

acquired SABMiller, which ceased trading as a corporation, making the Foster's Group a direct subsidiary of the parent company. In June 2020, Carlton and United Breweries was sold to the Japanese beverage giant, Asahi Group Holdings.

History

Foster's was founded in

in 1888 by two American brothers William and Ralph Foster of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, who happened to own a refrigeration plant. Cooling was necessary to brew and store acceptable lagers in Australia's hot climate, unlike the English-style dark ales commonly brewed at the time. They sold the brewery the following year and returned to the United States. In 1983

Elders IXL Elders Limited, formerly known as Elder, Stirling & Co., Elder Smith and Co. and Elder Smith & Co. Ltd, is an Australian agribusiness that provides agricultural goods and services to primary producers in Australia. History Early history (1839 ...

, a giant Australian diversified conglomerate, purchased

Carlton and United Breweries Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) is an Australian brewing company based in Melbourne and owned by Japanese conglomerate Asahi Breweries. Its notable brands include Victoria Bitter, Carlton Draught, Foster's Lager, Great Northern, Resch's, ...

, and renamed it Elders Brewing Group. Then in 1990, the Elders Brewing Group changed its name to the Foster's Group, to reflect the name of their most internationally recognised product. In 2005, Foster's Group acquired the Australian wine-making group Southcorp Wines. This acquisition added famous brands such as

Penfolds Penfolds is an Australian wine producer that was founded in Adelaide in 1844 by Christopher Rawson Penfold, an English physician who emigrated to Australia, and his wife Mary Penfold. It is one of Australia's oldest wineries, and is currently ...

, Lindemans and Rosemount to the Foster's stable and around A$1 billion to revenues. In May 2011, Foster's Group's Treasury Wine Estates unit was spun off into a separate company. The first day of trading saw its share price soaring, valuing the separate entity at A$2.2 billion. There had long been speculation that the beer sector or all of Foster's Group would be subject to a takeover by a larger firm. Groups to express such an interest over the years have included

Diageo Diageo plc ( ) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It is a major distributor of Scotch whisky and other spirits and operates from 132 sites around the world ...

, the British-South African company

Molson Coors Molson Coors Beverage Company is a Canadian-American Multinational corporation, multinational Drink industry, drink and brewing company, brewing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Molson Coors was formed in 2005 through the merger of Mo ...

and

Heineken International Heineken Naamloze vennootschap, N.V. (), branded as The Heineken Company is a Dutch multinational corporation, multinational brewery, brewing company, founded in 1864 by Gerard Adriaan Heineken in Amsterdam. Heineken owns over 165 breweries in m ...

. Foster's Group was renamed

(CUB), and its wine business split into a separate company, Treasury Wine Estates, in May 2011. CUB was sold to SABMiller in September 2011, valued at (US$10.2bn; £6.5bn). Foster's Group Limited shares (ASX code: FGL) were suspended from trading on the ASX on 2 December 2011 and delisted from the ASX at close of trading on 20 December 2011. On 10 October 2016

acquired

. SABMiller was delisted and ceased trading on global stock markets, and Foster's Group became a direct subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV. As a result, Foster's Group became a direct subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV. In 2019, ''

Business Insider ''Business Insider'' (stylized in all caps: BUSINESS INSIDER; known from 2021 to 2023 as INSIDER) is a New York City–based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Inside ...

'' reported that Asahi Group Holdings, a large Japanese beverage corporation, would buy Anheuser-Busch InBev's Australian assets, "including Foster's beer and Carlton and United Breweries". In June 2020, Anheuser-Busch InBev completed the sale of Carlton and United Breweries to Asahi Group Holdings.

Business

In 1990,

Asahi Breweries The is a Japanese beverage holding company headquartered in Sumida, Tokyo. In 2019, the group had revenue of JPY 2.1 trillion. Asahi's business portfolio can be segmented as follows: Alcoholic drink, alcoholic beverage business (40.5%), over ...

acquired a 19.9% stake in Australian brewery giant Elders IXL which later became Foster' s Group. Foster's Group imports, licenses, and distributes a large number of brands. In Australia, Foster's distributes the

Cinzano Cinzano () is an Italian brand of vermouth, a brand owned since 1999 by Campari Group, Gruppo Campari. History Cinzano vermouths date back to 1757 and the Turin herbal shop of two brothers, Giovanni Giacomo and Carlo Stefano Cinzano, who creat ...

Perrier Perrier ( , also , ) is a French brand of bottled water marketed as coming from its source in Vergèze, located in the Gard '' département''. Perrier was part of the Perrier Vittel Group SA, which became Nestlé Waters France after the acqu ...

Skyy vodka SKYY vodka is an American vodka spirit produced by the Campari America division of Campari Group of Milan, Italy, formerly SKYY Spirits LLC. SKYY Vodka is 40% ABV or 80 proof, except in Australia and New Zealand where it is 37.5% ABV / 75 Pr ...

Stella Artois Stella Artois ( , ) is a pilsner beer, first brewed in 1926 by Brouwerij Artois in Leuven, Belgium. In its original form, the beer is 5.2 per cent Alcohol by volume, ABV, the country's standard for pilsners. The beer is sold in many EU countrie ...

, and

42 Below Bacardi Limited ( , , ) is the largest privately held, family-owned spirits company in the world. Originally known for its Bacardí brand of white rum, it now has a portfolio of more than 200 brands and labels. Founded in Cuba in 1862 by Facundo ...

import brands among many others. While in the United States and Canadian markets,

Molson The Molson Brewery is a Canada-based brewery based in Montreal and was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors. Molson Coors maintains some of its Canadian operati ...

brews and sells

under license. In August 2008, it was convicted and fined more than A$1 million for two breaches of

's Occupational Health and Safety Act which led to the death of a worker in 2006. The prosecution of the company by the Director of Public Prosecutions for WorkSafe Victoria resulted in a call for the company to better report on health and safety in its annual report. CEO Trevor O'Hoy resigned on 10 June 2008 after poor performance by the wine division of the group. O'Hoy was replaced by Ian Johnston on 21 July 2008 in the position of acting CEO. Foster's announced yearly results which ended on 30 June 2009. The net sales revenue increases by 2.7% to A$4.5 billion. Net profit increases by 4.0% to A$741.5m and earnings per share increases by 4.6% to 38.5 cents. In 2011, Fosters made major losses that including a write-down in the value of the wines division to A$1.8 billion that at the business's AGM in Melbourne on 29 April 2011, 99% of Fosters Group shareholders agreed to split Fosters Group business into two separate brewing and wines companies. The wines business became

, and was listed on the ASX on 10 May 2011. In an

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

interview in late August 2011, the Carlton United Group (Fosters beer division) announced that they would be focusing more on

craft beer Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...

to meet the change in taste of the Australian drinker. In 2011, Foster's was acquired by SABMiller; the latter was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV in October 2016.

Brands

Beers and breweries

** Carlton Black ** Carlton Draught **

Crown Lager Crown Lager is a 4.9% premium Australian beer originally made by Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), a subsidiary of Foster's Group. The beer was first brewed in 1919 under its former name, "Foster's Crown Lager". History Carlton & United Breweri ...

** Melbourne Bitter ** NT Draught ** Pure Blonde ** Reschs ** Sheaf Stout **

Victoria Bitter Victoria Bitter (VB) is a lager produced by Carlton & United Breweries, a subsidiary of Asahi, in Melbourne, Victoria. It was first brewed by Thomas Aitken at Victoria Brewery in 1854 and is one of the best selling beers in Australia. History ...

** Victoria Bitter Gold *

Cascade Brewery The Cascade Brewery is a brewery established in 1824 in South Hobart, Tasmania that is the oldest continually operating brewery in Australia. As well as beer, the site also produces a range of non-alcoholic products. It is home to a function ...

**Cascade Amber Ale **Cascade Bitter **Cascade Blonde Lager **Cascade Draught **Cascade Export Stout **Cascade Green **Cascade Lager **Cascade Pale Ale **Cascade Premium Lager **Cascade Premium Light **Cascade Stout *Foster's ** Foster's Premium Ale **

** Foster's Lightice **Foster's

Radler Shandy is beer or cider mixed with a lemon flavoured beverage, usually half lemonade and half beer or cider, resulting in a lower ABV for the finished drink. Shandies are popular in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Caribbean, ...

Great Northern Brewing Co. The Great Northern Brewing Co., commonly known as Great Northern, is a brand of full and a mid-strength Australian lager owned by Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), and brewed in Queensland at the CUB Yatala Brewery. It comes in 330mL "stubbi ...

Grolsch Koninklijke Grolsch N.V. (; "Royal Grolsch"), known simply as Grolsch, is a Dutch brewery founded in 1615 by Willem Neerfeldt in Groenlo. In 1895, the Family de Groen, de Groen family bought the brewery. They had started their own brewery in Ensc ...

* KB *

Matilda Bay Brewing Company The Matilda Bay Brewing Company is a brewery founded in Western Australia, the first new brewery opened in Australia since World War II, and Australia's first craft brewery. Originating from small batches brewed for the Sail and Anchor Hotel in ...

**Alpha Pale Ale **Beez Neez **Big Helga **Bohemian Pilsner **Dog Bolter Dark Lager **Fat Yak **Redback *

Miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...

** Miller Chill **Miller Genuine Draft * Peroni **Peroni Nastro Azzurro *

Pilsner Urquell Pilsner Urquell (; ) is a lager beer brewed at Asahi Breweries' Pilsner Urquell Brewery in Plzeň (German name: Pilsen), Czech Republic. Pilsner Urquell was the world's first pale lager, and its popularity meant it was much copied, and ...

* Power's Brewery ** Power's Bitter ** Power's dry ** Power's Gold

Cider

Bulmers Bulmers cider is one of a number of brands owned by British cider maker H. P. Bulmer of Hereford, a Heineken subsidiary. It is one of the biggest selling British bottled cider brands in the UK with a number of variants including Bulmers Origin ...

* Mercury * Strongbow

Spirits

* Akropolis Oyzo * Barossa Brandy * Black Jack * Continental Liqueurs *

Cougar Bourbon Cougar bourbon whiskey, formerly called Sam Cougar's, is a brand of bourbon whiskey produced in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, by MGP Ingredients. It is an export-only brand owned by Foster's Group (a division of SABMiller) that is bottled and ...

* Coyote Tequila * Karloff * Kirov * Prince Albert's Gin * The Black Douglas

Non-alcohol

Cascade Cascade, or Cascading may refer to: Science and technology Science * Air shower (physics), a cascade (particle shower) of subatomic particles and ionized nuclei ** Particle shower, a cascade of secondary particles produced as the result of a high ...

*Torquay

References

External links

Beringer, Foster's Pop Champagne On Deal

{{Authority control Asahi Breweries SABMiller Alcoholic drink companies Multinational companies headquartered in Australia Food and drink companies established in 1888 1888 establishments in Australia Companies formerly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Holding companies of Australia it:Foster's