The celebration continues as Coopers retains anniversary product

Coopers has announced it will retain its Celebration Ale as a permanent line. The product was introduced in 2012 to celebrate the brewer’s 150th anniversary.

Coopers’ National Marketing Director Cam Pearce said strong sales of more than 100,000 cases since the ale was launched in May 2012 have driven the decision.

“Celebration Ale was initially launched as a special one-off product to celebrate our landmark anniversary,” Pearce said.

“However, we said that if it performed well, consideration would be given to keeping it as one of our regular lines. Sales have exceeded our expectations and we have made the decision to make it a permanent part of our portfolio.

“Indeed, Celebration Ale was the number-one new product development in packaged beer by value for the quarter ending October 2012, according to Nielsen data.”

Celebration Ale is a hops-driven ale with a dark-red hue that follows the style of an India Pale Ale. It incorporates three different hops varieties - Centennial from the USA, Nelson Sauvin from New Zealand and Pride of Ringwood from Australia - to produce a beer with strong estery characteristics and a ‘hoppier’ style than Coopers’ mainstream ales.

“The fact that it has been able to carve out a strong following in an increasingly busy sector of the market in a relatively short period of time is a strong endorsement of our brewers’ abilities,” said Pearce.