Pale ale in a tinnie? Can do
BREWER Coopers is releasing its flagship Pale Ale in cans for the first time, responding to growing acceptance among beer drinkers of buying their brews in a tinnie.
The green-labelled Pale Ale has previously only been in bottles or on tap but Coopers sales and marketing director Cam Pearce said the changing marketplace had led to the new packaging.
“With increasing consumer demand for a can format, now is the right time to release our flagship product in a can,” he said.
“Consumer demand for beer in cans has accelerated over the past few years as we see cans appealing to a wider audience.”
South Australia-based Coopers, which is Australia’s largest locally owned brewer, said it was encouraged by the uptake of cans when it recently released a session ale in cans and bottles.
It will release the Pale Ale cans in August but there are no plans to release its other ales in cans. ALONG a quiet residential street on the outer edges of Beijing, a yellow and black cube about the size of a small washing machine trundles leisurely to its destination.
This “little yellow horse” is an autonomous delivery robot, ferrying daily essentials like drinks, fruit and snacks from the local store to the residents of the “Kafka” compound in the Chinese capital.
Equipped with a GPS system, cameras and radar, the robots are seen by their creator as the future of logistics in China, where he says one billion packages will eventually be delivered every day.
Travelling at a less-thanoverwhelming 3km/h — a slow human walk — the robot has room for improvement, said one customer as she removed a packet of nuts from its bowels.
“The weak point is that it cannot deliver directly to the door like a human,” said the customer, who does not live on the ground floor.
“But it’s still quite practical. The robot delivers relatively quickly,” she said.
The robot takes advantage of Chinese consumers’ love of cashless payments and smartphone shopping.