Vanuatu’s award winning Tusker Beer could be on Australian shop shelves following a great showing at Fine Food Australia in Melbourne.
Vanuatu Brewing Limited, makers of Tusker Beer were part of a delegation of 11 businesses exhibiting at the Pacific Trade & Invest (PT&I) Pacific Islands stand at Fine Food Australia.
The show was an overall success for the Pacific Island companies, many of which were first timers at one of the largest Food exhibitions in the Southern Hemisphere. However, successfully securing distribution points for Tusker Beer in the Australian market will top off a big year for Vanuatu Brewing Limited and Master Brewer Francois Lhote and his team at Fine Food Sales Manager Dennis Coteron and Senam Adedi.
Tusker Beer celebrated its 25th anniversary on 29 November 2015 and in April this year achieved a gold award for Tusker OP at the 2016 Monde World Quality Selection and Silver for Tusker Premium. This was followed by a bronze medal at the 2016 Australian International Beer Awards in Melbourne in May. Tusker Beer Premium, Tusker OP and the new Tusker Lemon beers were all available at the PT&I Pacific Island stand.
Mr Lhote is a passionate advertisement for Tusker, proud of his efforts in brewing a beer recognised internationally for its quality. But it was the long lines of beer tasters right from the start of the show that made Tusker Beer one of the most popular stands at the PT&I Pacific Islands exhibition especially for the male demographic. Mr Lhote oversees the beer brewed in the factory in Vanuatu and sold locally. It is also shipped to New Caledonia where it is sold in bottles and cans.
Winning the beer awards will definitely open doors to international markets.
The 2016 Australian International Beer Awards held in Melbourne in May attracted a record 1790 entries from 326 Breweries in 36 countries, 276 entries from 42 breweries in Oceania (excluding Australia), 91 entries from 27 breweries in Asia. There were also a record number of 60 local and international judges said Mr Damian Nieuwesteeg, Event Manager of the Royal Melbourne Wine, Beer and Australian Distilled Spriits Award. Vanuatu Brewing Company won a Bronze Medal at the 2016 AIBA for Tusker OP in Class 3C – Other International Style Lager (American Style Malt Liquour).
The prestigious Monde Selection Quality Awards established in 1961 were held in Budapest in May this year. Products are judged by over 70 experts on the product’s qualities as a whole rather than competing against other products.
The AIBA judges the winners based on five various categories including appearance, aroma, flavour and body, technical quality and style for a total of 20 points. A Gold award is given for more than 17 points whilst Silver is 15.5 to 16.9 points or Bronze, 14.0 to 15.4 points.
Vanuatu Beer Marketing Manager Dennis Coteron said around 10,000 cartons of bottled Tusker and 2400 cans are sold in Vanuatu monthly. Another milestone for the company happened earlier this year when Tusker Beer was exported to Kiribati and Tuvalu. The beer’s popularity has risen rapidly to 2400 cans in two months, filling 20 ft containers.
Overall it has been a great year Vanuatu Brewing and Tusker Beer.
Photo:Facebook.Tusker beer stand at Fine Food Australia in Melbourne