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Old January 29th, 2005, 08:56 PM   #8
Lara
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Darth Marley
"Beverage" manufacture?

Malt based adult beverages?
Hi Darth,

Its beverage as in soft drink, cordials and juices, altho we do a lot of alcohol work now, and we have a sister company who is all alcohol, including top shelf whiskey and cocktail liquers.

We used to make beer, and still own a microbrewery, but mostly we do RTD's thats the ready mixed drinks with 5 to 8% alcohol (like smirnoff ice), which in Australia are made with Vodka. We had an export project to USA the other year but got done by the taxes and the left over laws from prohibition that make anything with vodka a 'hard liquor' and taxed at a stupid rate. We fired up the brewery and tried making a malt based alcohol to put in the drinks (and we got a very impressive 26% alcohol due to our carefully nurtured yeasts) but the flavour profile was still too unclean. Then the BATF nailed the project dead with a non tariff trade barrier: our perfectly safe, NATURAL flavours and clouding agents weren't recognised by them for use in alcoholic products and it would cost approx $US 25, 000 EACH to get them "approved" The range of approved ingreds is very small, so our stuff would have landed up tasting like the same stuff on the market already, with all the import costs. Not competitive. Better product, no way of selling it to you!!

Most of my employers volume is in premium cordial (something the Brits know about but Americans don't), and fruit juice drinks, and a peculiar brew called iced coffee mix, which is a coffee and chichory essence in a sugar syrup, that you drink mixed with water or milk hot or cold.

So I guess it means we make the happy juice for the party as well as for the recovery the next day!! Thats what my boss would call market coverage.

Cheers,
Lara
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