Communique sparks battle of the beer brands

THEY might be creators of festive cheer, but Brandhouse and South African Breweries do not consider each other jolly good fellows right now.

They are in the midst of a legal spat about an SAB "trade presenter" sent to retailers which Brandhouse claims disparages its beer brands, misleads retailers and breaches the Advertising Standards Code. SAB denies this.

SAB said it issued the trade presenter because Brandhouse did not produce sufficient Windhoek to meet festive season demand, and oversupplied Amstel - which, because of falling sales, was in danger of reaching its sell-by date.

"Brandhouse is overstocked on Amstel and understocked on Windhoek, and they're trying to shift the burden of that mistake to retailers," said SAB sales and distribution director Wayne McCauley.

SAB said the trade presenter was intended to help retailers deal with the Brandhouse stock issues. In its press statement, SAB said lost sales owing to "out-of-stocks" could make the difference as to whether or not a retailer was profitable for the year, as many retailers generated a significant percentage of their annual beer sales during the four-week holiday period.

In the trade presenter, SAB advised retailers to switch to SAB products, for which production had been significantly ramped up.

It warned retailers that the Amstel in returnable bottles, which they might have bought in bulk at low prices, was likely to reach its best-before date at the end of December. Therefore, it "might hurt their credibility" if consumers noticed the label or tasted any difference. It also warned that retailers might be stuck with stock they could not sell after the festive season, and encouraged them to "send back product that is near its best-before date".

Brandhouse, through its lawyers, Nortons Inc, said the statements about Amstel being near the end of its shelf life were patently false.

The company denied the Amstel returnable bottles contained "old beer" that would reach its sell-by date at the end of December.

In its written legal response, SAB contended the "best-before date on the Brandhouse beer brand in question is factually correct, objectively verifiable and documented in the trade".

Brandhouse lawyer Anthony Norton said the best-before date in question was a misprint on a small number of boxes, which did not appear on the bottles themselves.

He said SAB's attempt to sully Brandhouse's reputation through the trade presenter was "ham-fisted and opportunistic" and "rocketing demand" for Windhoek was clearly a worry for SAB.

Brandhouse disputed SAB's statement that Amstel sales were down by double-digit percentages.

Liquor outlet managers in Gauteng and Cape Town said they were struggling with the lack of supply of Windhoek Lager and Draught, specifically in cans.