Anheuser Busch said this week that now that it has acquired Rolling Rock beer, it plans to move the production facility from Latrobe, Pennsylvania, to Newark, NJ, and will use water from a Jersey reservoir rather than from mountain springs.
However, according to Anheuser, only the label will change. The taste, the company says, will remain the same.
However, according to Anheuser, only the label will change. The taste, the company says, will remain the same.
- KC's View:
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Maybe.
Apparently the text on the bottle will continue to say: “From the glass-lined tanks of old Latrobe, we tender this premium beer for your enjoyment, as a tribute to your good taste. It comes from the mountain springs to you." Even though it is coming from Newark.
We understand A-B’s desire to cut costs by moving to Newark, and its desire to create the appearance that nothing has changed. But things have changed, and trying to hide it, creating the illusion that things are as they were, is usually a mistake.
The truth is that A-B will be making a Rolling Rock that it hopes will be indistinguishable from the old version. But it won’t be the same.
A-B is, in our view, gambling a little bit that by making a quick and decisive move and then bolstering the marketing beyond past levels, it can get past the change and just get old and new customers to enjoy the brand.
