Inbev adds ‘younger beer’ to the Stella Artois family

Inbev is launching low- alcohol content wheat beer Peeterman Artois this summer, in an attempt to woo younger drinkers. The move forms part of its strategy to grow the Artois family of beers alongside its existing flagship brand Stella Artois (MW March 9).

The launch will be part of a &£50m investment in its initiative called Brassiere Artois, a new “approach to serving beer” involving the creation of premium beers inspired by the archives from the Artois brewery.

Arriving on the market in July, Peeterman will be the second launch in the Artois family, following Artois Bock’s entrance last year (MW May 19).

The 4% ABV drink will be positioned as a premium beer, but will compete in the standard lager market against Carling and Foster’s.

An Inbev spokesman says: “Brassiere Artois is an ambitious project which will bring much-needed impetus to the beer category. It aims to offer a range of premium beer styles for a range of different occasion all within the reassuring Artois quality credentials.”

The wheat beer is, however, not a radical innovation to the market, which was first exposed to the concept in the 1990s when Guinness launched Breo. It was soon withdrawn in 2000.

More recently, Scottish & Newcastle UK launched Kronenbourg Blanc wheat beer last year.