Cost Of Aussie Beer In Nz

[pimpsqueak]

Just got back from 6 days in NZ. (I will post some of the amazing craft beers I drank in the appropriate thread later)

I thought I would remark on the cost of Aussie beer in NZ though. In particular, Little Creatures Pale Ale.

In NZ I easily found it for $22.50 NZD
Over here in Sydney the best I can do is $22.95 AUD for a 6-pack.

Todays currency conversion rate is 22.50 NZD = 16.9517 AUD WTF is going on here? Surely any difference in tarrifs/duty etc can't be that massive?
Didn't go hunting out any other Aussie beers, as LCPA is usually my weapon of choice at a generic bottle shop.

Is this par for the course?
The reason I ask is that conversely, the cost of brewing ingredients in NZ is obscenely high compared even to an average Country Brewer over here, let alone the sponsors above.

A quick comparison puts the cost of the ingredients I bought at $37.50 AUD vs around $60 NZD for the equivalent!
Sucks to be an extract brewer in NZ :blink:

 

[Nick JD]

This is interesting. You'd think LC wouldn't be making any profit at that price. But obviously they do.

 

[Bribie G]

AFAIK the duty on beer is lower in NZ, for example I was drinking most beers for the equivalent of $A 5 a pint, and that's in the CBD of a capital city. Beers such as Hoprocker were around $A 11 a sux pack and my favourite brew of all time, 8.5% ABV scrumpy cider (actually a very nice drop reminiscent of Mercury Cider on steroids) was around $A 5 for a 1.25L goonie.
I would guess that the LC would only attract NZ excise and the cost of transport would knock it up a bit.

 

[pimpsqueak]

Hmm,

I had a look here...http://comparativetaxation.treasury.gov.au...hapter_8-05.asp
And I can't quite get my head around the figures. (I think)

"New Zealand
The excise duty rate for beer containing more than 2.5 per cent vol is NZ$21.647 per litre of alcohol in finished product."

"Australia A$34.22 where volume of alcohol exceeds 3 per cent but does not exceed 3.5 per cent or exceeds 3.5 per cent."

The way I read it, it's AUD 34.22 per litre of pure alcohol produced (spread over X volume of beer) vs NZD $21.64 for the same.
I suppose that is lower but I can't see how it is that low comparatively. They have to freight it across the Tasman and impose GST on it too. International freight would incur a fee or two that you won't get in bunging it on a truck and sending it to Sydney.

Might put this one in the too-hard box and concentrate on the brewing and drinking, not the cost analysis.

 

[Fents]

Must be a sydney thing, i hardly ever pay more than $19.99 a six pack of LCPA in Vic.

 

[pimpsqueak]

Must be a sydney thing, i hardly ever pay more than $19.99 a six pack of LCPA in Vic.

Well that sucks. (not for you obviously)

 

[Fodder]

Interesting...and dissapointing. I pay anything from $20-24 for a 6 pack (at the local bottle-o) and I'm just down the road from Freo.

Seems the further east you go from the manufacturer the cheaper it gets... <_<

 

[.DJ.]

Must be a sydney thing, i hardly ever pay more than $19.99 a six pack of LCPA in Vic.

im in south western sydney and never pay more than $20... I've actually never seen it over 20....

 

[HoppingMad]

LC is 40% owned by good old Lion Nathan - which isn't an Aussie Company. It's Kiwi.

Well if you want to get specific it's a Japanese controlled Kiwi company. (owned overall by Kirin).

I wonder if they brew it under license there via a partnership agreement? Would certainly explain the price.

Otherwise I wonder if they get some exemption on importation due to the ownership?

Hopper.

 

[pimpsqueak]

LC is 40% owned by good old Lion Nathan - which isn't an Aussie Company. It's Kiwi.

Well if you want to get specific it's a Japanese controlled Kiwi company. (owned overall by Kirin).

I wonder if they brew it under license there via a partnership agreement? Would certainly explain the price.

Otherwise I wonder if they get some exemption on importation due to the ownership?

Hopper.

Bloody good point. I didn't check if it was brewed under license. Though after a bit of googling I can't see that it is brewed anywhere other than Aus.

 

[mwd]

Try never to buy a 6 pack what a rip. I think the last case of LCPA I bought was $64.00 IIRC.

Bought a case of JS IPA yesterday for $52.00 noice. Had to cart it home on the bus. :icon_offtopic:

 

[Bribie G]

For a town of its size Cairns has a pretty impressive bus service, stayed up Sheridan Street near the Cock and Bull and we used the buses all the time.

 

[Nick JD]

Have you guys seen what the usual cheapest beers are in NZ supermarkets are?

C ... U ... B, half the time.

A sixer of VB is cheaper there than here. By quite a bit. I see on NZ liquorland's website (just went to see if VB was on special) that a dozen 330ml Grolsch bottles are NZD$19.99.

Yup, that's AUD$7.50 a six pack x2.

Beer is expensive here.

 

[Bribie G]

And always has been in my experience. When I moved here from the UK in the 70s I was paying 50% more for a "strong" lager such as XXXX compared to the pom equivalent, Stella or Lamot on tap. Probably the main culprit is the automatic rise in excise every year despite any CPI increases. So the brewers increase the price anyway with inflationary pressures, and then the all caring govt. put up the excise as a double whammy.

 

[Pollux]

-snip-

Over here in Sydney the best I can do is $22.95 AUD for a 6-pack.

-snip-

Okay, where in the Inner West do you live??? I live in Stanmore and can think of at least 5 bottle-os near here where I can get it MUCH cheaper than that.

 

[Milky11111]

The SWMBO picked me up a six pack of this about an hour ago, LiquorLand Tamworth, $20.49.

 

[govorko1974]

i noticed the same last time i went home how much cheaper beer is in nz...although there stubbies are only 330ml..found a supermarket that had vb and carlton cold cheaper than i have seen it up here for a long time..even swmbo commented on the price of beer...to which i replied...thats why i got into hb...we pay enough taxes as it is...and what do i hear on the radio today....they are talking bout putting the price of alchol up to stop the drunken violence....great work...the extra tax on udl's really stop the teenage binge drinking

 

[felten]

I thought Dan's post here summed up the tax differences really well.... but its Australia compared to US, not NZ.

 

[Silo Ted]

Lion Nathan - which isn't an Aussie Company. It's Kiwi.

^^ No. Lion Nathan is Japanese

According to web sources, it unfolds like this:

Little Creatures 100% owned by Little World Beverages Ltd

Little World Beverages is 40% owned** by Lion Nathan National Foods Pty Ltd

Lion Nathan National Foods Pty Ltd is 100% owned by Kirin Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd

Kirin Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd is 100% owned By Kirin Holdings Company, Ltd, a Japanese co.



**other major shareholders of Little World Beverages are (according to wiki):

founding shareholder and director Adrian Fini, (approx 17.5% through the Fini Group Pty Ltd and Yalaba Pty Ltd); Nic Trimboli, also a founding and current Executive Director (approx 8%); David Martin (approx 7.5%) and Howard Cearns, through the Cearns Family Trust and Back Veranda Pty Ltd (approx 7%)

Some of the above mentioned might be Kiwi, but they play no part in Lion Nathan / Kirin as shareholders.

 

[Tilt]

I'm not sure on the LCPA but a 750ml Coopers Sparkling here sells for $4.50NZ on special.
IIRC thats cheaper than I could buy it when I was at Uni in Adelaide 15 years ago.
Never tastes quite the same as it did then though - must be the absence of a Villi's pie to go with it!