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(Courtesy Fourpure Brewing)
Fourpure Brewing, a now Kirin-owned brewery in London, has been called out by a UK regulatory group for an IPA they say has “particular appeal” to those aged under 18.
Here’s the deal…
The Portman Group, a self-regulatory body in the United Kingdom with 100% self-righteousness and zero legal sway, has jumped ugly over the imaging of Fourpure Brewing’s Juicebox Citrus IPA, a beer the brewery it has been producing since 2016.
It was Zenith Global, a food and drink consulting firm, that brought the complaint to the Portman Group’s attention arguing that the IPA’s packaging, which includes images of oranges, creates an association with orange juice, an assertion which is further strengthened by the beer’s name ‘Juicebox’.
Fourpure aggressively countered the criticism arguing that it had never received any complaints from consumers or regulators since it put its Juicebox Citrus IPA on sale in March 2016.
The London brewery also added that at no time over the beer’s more than three year run had retailers suggested that the IPA’s packaging was appealing to under-18s.
Fourpure added that it had undertaken a number of decisions in order to differentiate its product from a soft drink, including the prominent use of the IPA in yellow text, the can’s beer imagery and references to brewing on the front and back of the can.
Juicebox Citrus IPA cans also feature a pregnancy consumption advisory logo, a drink responsibly message and a description of the brewing process. So there’s that…
Fourpure also noted that its cans were typical of those produced by a number of craft beer producers in the UK, packaged in 330ml cans with stylized graphical representations and non-literal creative names.
Referencing previous favorable rulings involving Beavertown’s Gamma Ray and Neck Oil beers, Fourpure argued that Juicebox IPA’s imagery and non-literal name was hardly atypical of many craft beers sold in the UK.
According the Drinks Business “the Portman Group panel dismissed the charge that the alcoholic nature of Juicebox should be communicated with greater clarity. However it found that the combination of the term Juicebox, together with images of fruit and stylized sunshine, had a “particular appeal to children”.
Fourpure is now said to be working with the advisory service on how to adapt its cans.
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