1.2 External analysis
Environmental factors:
- Social: o There are numerous social issues in regards to the alcohol industry. These range from associated disease as well as health and safety impacts from high levels of alcohol consumption, to under-age drinking and third world countries the portion of spending money on alcohol versus basic needs. o Domestic violence has consistently risen and has been linked to the consumption of high levels of alcohol.
- Demographic:
- Technological: o The malting industry has introduced automation and computerisation to reduce labour requirements and to improve product quality control. o The has been renewed pressure on producers to reduce the amount of water used in producing beer. Lion Nathan has built a water recycling plant to reduce the amount of water required to produce a litre of beer to 2.2 litres. o Improvements in temperature control have reduced wastage from heat stressed fermentation. This has allows breweries to reduce their wastage and therefore costs. o
- Government and Regulatory: o Currently the level of regulation is heavy and the trend is steady. Beer is covered by the Australian & New Zealand food standard 2.7.2, which defines the product, and the additional foods that can be added to beer. o Excise regualtions require that producers measure and sample the beer they produce in order to calculate the excise payable. Siginificant record keeping is required in order to comply with these regulations. o Demands for the products of the beer industry is also affected by state and territory regulations regarding the consumption of alcohol. There regulations include minimum age requirements for the purchase of alcohol and drink driving regulations. The retail sale of alcohol products is also heavily regulated, requiring retailers and hospitality venues to obtain licences, and to only sell alcohol