A new 375 ml bottle is being introduced for all Coopers products, with the exception of Premium Ale, to replaces the mid-neck bottles Coopers has been using since 1995.

The Company has also renamed the new formulation draught and light beers it introduced in February this year as Coopers Regency Draught and Coopers Regency Light.

Coopers Managing Director, Dr Tim Cooper, said the new bottles, manufactured by ACI Glass, were slightly taller and more elegant and now had the Coopers logo embossed on the side.

“Coopers first began using the current mid-neck bottles in 1995 after coming to an agreement with Lion Nathan, which owned the proprietary shape,” he said.

“In 2000, Coopers obtained the proprietary rights for these bottles from Lion Nathan and began utilising the bottles in its own right.

“I asked ACI Glass to advise me when the mould gear needed to be replaced so that we could take the opportunity to design and introduce our own distinctive bottle shape. We have now reached that point.”

Dr Cooper said that because the new bottles were taller, more than $400,000 had been spent redesigning the labelling and packaging as well as on packaging equipment to maintain the filling speed of 850 bottles per minute.

“All our products will now be produced in the new bottles and will gradually be introduced across Australia over the next several weeks,” he said.

“The new bottle and the re-badging of our light and draught beers will be an important part of our program to double our share of the Australian beer market within the next 10 years.”

Coopers currently holds about 2 percent of total Australian beer sales and plans to lift that to 4 percent by 2012.

Coopers Chairman and Marketing Director, Mr Glenn Cooper, said the introduction of the Regency brand fulfilled an agreement Coopers had reached with rival brewer Tooheys earlier this year after the launch of the Coopers New Light and Coopers New Draught labels.

“The name change to Coopers Regency Draught and Coopers Regency Light means we will be aggressively marketing our lagers interstate and we will be working hard to piggy-back on the success of Coopers Pale Ale, especially in the Sydney market,” Mr Cooper said.

The Regency Draught and Regency Light beers are the first new beers to have been produced at the Regency Park Brewery and benefit from advanced mash filtration and gentle “thermosyphon” kettle boiling.

Regency Light combines the malt character is the best South Australian barley with a judicious blend of subtle hop flavour to produce a crisp, refreshing beer with a robust malty flavour.