Background: Coopers Brewery is Australia's third-largest brewery, and it's been around since 1862, when Thomas Cooper brewed an unexpectedly tasty tonic for his sick wife. Fast-forward to today, and the family-run business has a whole range of beers, from pale ales to stouts, sold in pubs and bottle shops all over Australia.

What happened: This week, the boss of Coopers Brewery warned that beer is becoming too expensive to be considered "recession-proof" thanks to rising excise taxes on packaged beer in Australia. Get this: the average price of a carton, or slab, is now around $65, making Australia one of the most expensive places in the world to buy beer.

What else: Coopers' profit actually rose around 10% last financial year, but some of that came from a one-off property sale. And with the RBA's latest interest rate hikes still working their way through the economy, Aussies are being warned they might feel poorer in the coming months... And the Friday beer might just be the thing people cut from budgets.

What's the key learning?

💡 Little treats survive most budget cuts, but at a certain price, cracking a beer after a long week becomes a luxury. Beer has traditionally been seen as a recession-proof product, meaning demand holds up even when the economy tanks.  

💡Beer is typically one of those items people still make room for even when budgets are tight. It's known as the lipstick effect, where sales of affordable treats like lipstick have historically risen during economic downturns. But at $65 a slab, beer is slipping out of the "affordable treat" category.

💡 We've seen this with McDonald's... global sales soared around 7% during the 2008 GFC as consumers traded down to cheaper meals. But after menu prices jumped between 2019 and 2024, customers started skipping the drive-through. Coopers and other beer makers could face a similar fate with heightened prices.