Q&A: Glen Cooper
Australian beers are largely seen in the UK as quite neutral thirst quenchers. How do the Coopers brands differ?
It's chalk and cheese. The blandness comes from Foster's, which does not even come from Australia. We don't drink Foster's in Australia. Unfortunately, because of that connection, Australia's got stamped with this image.
Coopers is the only major family brewer left in Australia making traditional ales to the extent of secondary fermentation in the bottle. You get the cloudiness, which we call 'cloudy but fine'. We encourage people to roll the bottle before drinking to lift up the sediment.
What is the strategy of Coopers - distributed by Pierhead Purchasing - in the UK?
We need to work on organic growth. Our beers are being discovered, the market is so huge here. Being a family company, we don't have the marketing budget. What we do have is famous beers which people are starting to discover.
Coopers is actually an English style ale. My great great-grandfather, who started the brewery, came from Yorkshire. Maybe some in the UK have forgotten about that style. What's happened is there's been a huge influx of mass breweries and the flavours are not the priority. With Coopers, they are.
How much of the appeal of Coopers' beers is to do with the Aussie provenance?
Produce from Australia seems to be well regarded over here. The real critical part for us is that it's all natural - no preservatives are added. That's something that is growing in Australia and here too.
To me, you can't have beers claiming to have a nation's style and credibility when they are brewed in a different country.
We see a fair amount of Coopers Sparkling Ale and Coopers IPA in the UK, but what opportunities are there for your other beers such as Mild Ale and Dark Ale?
There are no plans for the Mild Ale and Dark Ale at this point. We need to spread the understanding of Coopers a little bit more throughout the UK - like the idea of rolling the bottle. We need to educate people a bit more on what Coopers is about before lumping more products on.
How do we do that? It comes back to the fact that we are the only Australian family brewer and have a bit of theatre with Coopers - you have to turn the bottle to mix it up. That is what we need to use as our message.
Despite being a fifth-generation Cooper, you began your career working in computing before returning in 1990. What attracted you back?
Our philosophy for any of the Cooper family is that there is no granted right that you are going to come into the brewery. You go out there, do your own things, then the board of Coopers will select the time when a Cooper is invited in, when appropriate.
When you grow up in the Cooper family you are surrounded by beer from the day you're born, so you always have a heartfelt hope that one day you will work in the brewery.
It's The Publican's round. What are you drinking?
I am a fan of English pale ales, but the English IPAs are different to our pale ale - much stronger and more bitter.
