Yenda is on track to become one of the country’s leading craft beer brands, Coca-Cola Amatil said today.

Coca-Cola Amatil said its beers and ciders almost doubled their sales volumes on last year, with ranging expanded across the on- and off-premise channels.

“This was primarily driven by the successful launch in the high growth domestic craft beer category of Australian Beer Company’s Yenda in packaged format in March, which is on target to become a Top 5 craft beer brand, and the continued momentum of Pressman’s cider,” the company said in its half-yearly results announcement.

Yenda has been available in Dan Murphy’s since late May and was at one stage priced as sharply as $10 a six-pack for members.

Beer ‘not on the backburner’
CEO Alison Watkins was quizzed this morning as to whether beer was “on the backburner” for Coca-Cola Amatil.

Financial analyst David Thomas said the company devoted little time to beer in this morning’s results presentation and asked Watkins whether CCA still aspired to grow its portfolio of international brands.

Watkins responded that beer was “definitely not on the backburner” and CCA’s focus is on delivering for its existing partners – Molson Coors and Samuel Adams – rather than trying to secure others.

“We’re absolutely delighted with the progress of our beer strategy over the last 12 months,” she said.

“We don’t have ambitions to be a large volume player in beer, we have ambitions to play where we can see a need to be filled and to do that very very well – particularly the craft segment which is under-developed in this country, and the premium international segment… those are where we’ll focus.”

Watkins’ comments represent a massive about-face from those of her predecessor, Terry Davis, whenC0ca-Cola Amatil re-entered the beer market.

“Our medium term target is to get to 20 per cent of the Australian premium beer and cider market and our goal is to be the third force in beer brewing and distribution in Australia – that’s our goal,” Davis told AAP in December 2013.