WORLD NEWS | ‘Champagne in beer’ keeps French producers bubbly

BRUSSELS, April 22 (AP) — Champagne’s guardian won’t let anyone misuse the bubbly drink’s name, not even the American beer giant.

For years, Miller High Life has used the slogan “Champagne Beer.” This week, the appropriation became difficult to swallow.

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More than 2,000 cans of Miller High Life advertised as such were crushed by Belgian customs at the request of a trade body protecting the interests of sparkling wine producers and growers in northeastern France.

Comité Champagne has requested the destruction of a consignment of 2,352 cans, arguing that the American brewery’s century-old motto violates the protected appellation of origin “champagne”.

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The shipment was stopped at the Belgian port of Antwerp in early February and was destined for Germany, a spokesman for the Belgian Customs Service said on Friday.

Molson Coors Beverage Co., which owns the Miller High Life brand, is not currently exporting it to the EU, and Belgian customs declined to say who ordered the beers.

Buyers in Germany “have been informed and have not contested the decision,” the trade group said in a statement.

Frederick Miller, a German immigrant to the United States, founded the Miller Brewing Company in the 1850s.

Miller High Life is its oldest brand, launched in 1903 as its flagship brand.

According to the Milwaukee-based brand’s website, the company started using the “champagne in bottle” moniker three years later.

In 1969, it was simply called “beer champagne”.

During the festive season, the beer is also available in a 750ml champagne bottle.

“Miller High Life has proudly held the Beer Champagne moniker for nearly 120 years with its elegant, clear glass bottle and crisp taste,” Molson Coors Beverage Co. said in a statement to The Associated Press.

No matter how popular the slogan is in the US, it does not comply with EU rules, which clearly state that goods infringing a protected designation of origin will be considered counterfeit.

The 27-nation bloc has a system of protected geographical names designed to guarantee the authentic origin and quality of artisanal foods, wines and spirits and prevent them from being counterfeited.

According to a 2020 study by the European Union’s executive body, the market is worth nearly 75 billion euros ($87 billion) a year – half of which is wine.

Charles Goemaere, managing director of Comité Champagne, said the destruction of the beer “confirms the importance that the EU places on appellations of origin and rewards Champagne producers for their determination to protect their names.”

Molson Coors Beverage Co. said it “respects local restrictions on the word champagne.”

“But we remain proud of Miller High Life, its moniker and its origins in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,” the company said.

“We invite our friends in Europe to come to the United States at any time and toast to High Life together.”

Belgian customs said the cost of destroying the cans was paid by the Champagne Council.

According to their joint statement, “respect environmental concerns to the greatest extent possible by ensuring that the entire batch of product, including contents and container, is recycled in an environmentally responsible manner”. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)