KEY POINTS:
They remain an untapped beer audience - women.
While many have tried, none have succeeded - at least on any scale to write home about.
"It hasn't happened anywhere in the world. There's something about the flavour or the concept, or the whole product, that it's just a man's drink," said Auckland retail analyst Tim Morris.
That has not stopped brewers trying. Heineken has attempted converting women in Holland and Belgium to its rose beers - sweet, low-alcohol beers with fruit flavours and colours - with limited success, while German brewer Karlsberg is trying with its low-alcohol beer and fruit juice blend Karla by emphasising its health benefits. The accent on health prompted an unusual distribution channel - pharmacies.
Brewers here are not even contemplating anything so radical.
"We don't have anything on our agenda at this stage," said Lion Nathan's beer marketing director Stephen Smith. He said the company had focused on encouraging women into its other lines of alcoholic drinks.
"However, if you're just a beer business, I'd see that as a really interesting part of the market to have a look at. Not many people have been successful in doing that, I have to say."
DB Breweries has seen more women consumers than the norm for its Monteith's craft range, particularly citrus-flavoured Radler and honey-accented Summer Ale, even though they are not marketed specifically at women. While the new low-carb beers are also anecdotally picking up more females, beer in general remains heavily skewed towards male consumers.
One that had bucked the trend, said Smith, was Corona. Its easy-to-drink quality appealed to women, while its androgynous branding and packaging meant they did not feel excluded.
