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As Australians react to the shocking news that some the nation’s favourite non-alcoholic beverages will now be Chinese-owned following $600 million takeover of one of Australia’s biggest dairy operations – there is even more confronting news on the horizon that will hit proper drinkers right in the liver.
The Chinese dairy company Mengniu which earlier agreed to pay $1.5 billion to purchase organic baby formula maker Bellamy’s Australia has gone a step further in taking over the Lion Dairy and Drinks portfolio.
It means there are new owners for brands including Dairy Farmers, Pura, Dare, Farmers Union, Big M, Vitasoy, as well as Yoplait yoghurt and Daily Juice.
However, anyone who has been in a high-turn-over pub in Southern Queensland and New South Wales in the last fortnight may have been made aware by the fact that iconic proper drinking beer Resch’s has been discontinued by the corporate overlords that now own it.
This follows the the June sale of Carlton and United Breweries to Asahi Group Holdings for $16 billion, meaning that Resch’s is now owned by the Japanese.
After a few months of crunching the numbers, it seems the multinational beverage-maker couldn’t justify making a beer with such a similar market to Tooheys and Carlton Dry.
Resch’s — created by German migrant Edmund Resch in 1897 in Sydney after he spent time working in minefields, hotels and breweries across the country — enjoyed its heyday in the mid-20th century.
However, after a feasibility report, the old silver jars will be around no longer, infuriating proper drinkers right across the Eastern Seaboard.
“This is fucking bullshit” spits local 89-year-old Betoota-based-Tamworth-boy Ken Ages, who drinks at the Lord Kidman Hotel in Betoota’s Old City District.
“Why do all those shit beers like Tooheys Extra Dry and Carlton Draught get to limp on and the old Resch’s gets shafted!”
The Japanese billionaires who made this decision were unavailable for comment because they don’t give a fuck.
But one thing that is for certain is that Resch’s no longer refreshes.
