Dumped

When I scan the business pages of the New York Times, I seldom have reason to laugh. But a recent item was so nonsensical that I did just that. Beer drinkers, however, would not have been amused.

The article concerns a noble idea of the Europeans that went a bit astray. Wishing to protect unique food and beverage items produced in specific regions, extreme penalties are placed on fake products. For example, Kalamata Olive Oil can only be labeled as such if it is from the Kalamata region of Greece and made from olives grown there. Pecorino Romano cheese must be made on the islands of Sardinia or Lazio or the Tuscan province of Grosseto.

Here is how an American product got seized for imitating a protected European drink, Champagne, from the Champagne region of France.

We must go back to 1903 and the Frederick Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Back then, bottled beer was a rarity. Most beer was drunk in taverns or taken home in wooden or metal pails.

On New Year’s Eve, 1903, Miller debuted clear glass bottles to showcase his beer’s clarity. The bottles had long necks modeled after champagne bottles. In 1906, the company adopted the slogan, “The Champagne of Bottled Beer”. The nickname stuck to this day and is on every bottle or can. (The word “bottled” was dropped in 1969.)

This past February, a shipment of 2,352 cans of Miller High Life was seized at the port of Antwerp, Belgium. Molson Coors Beverage Company, which now owns the Miller brand, does not export the beer to Europe. The shipment was destined for one unnamed individual in Germany.

The French Committee for the Protection of Champagne ordered the seizure of the beer as “counterfeit Champagne”. The Belgium customs officials complied, and the buyer did not contest the order. All the beer went down the drain and the cans were crushed.

Molson Coors said it “respects local restrictions”. They added this caveat, “… we remain proud of Miller High Life, its nickname and its Milwaukee, Wisconsin provenance. We invite our friends in Europe to the U.S. any time to toast the High Life together.”

Here’s to both Champagne, beer and we Americans who can tell the difference.

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