While the explosive success of Stella Artois 4% has hogged the limelight in lager lately, sister brand Stella Artois has quietly crept out of the shadows to claw back market share.

Parent company AB InBev UK this week revealed that the combined UK sales volumes of original strength Stella Artois 5% and Stella 4% had grown 4% in the first half of 2009 compared with a 5% sales slump in its overall beer portfolio.

In terms of value, sales of Stella Artois 5% have grown 0.3% to £507m year-on-year [Nielsen] a return to growth that president of AB InBev UK Stuart MacFarlane put down to the “halo effect” of the 4% launch. “We were confident launching Stella Artois 4% would have a positive impact on the parent brand and strengthen the InBev UK portfolio,” he said.

“Stella Artois 5% is exhibiting strong brand health that indicates positive shifts with consumers, and it has increased its market share in the UK.”

Joe Hale, brand analyst at Dragon Rouge, said it was inevitable Stella Artois would benefit from the success of Stella 4%, which was launched a year ago and racked up sales of £30m in just eight months.

“This resurgence has a lot to do with the halo effect from 4% and very clever advertising. The style that the Nouvelle campaign injected has spread across the portfolio,” said Hale.

In April, the company ditched the Eiken Artois and Peeterman Artois brands to concentrate on Stella Artois 4% and Stella Artois 5%. It recorded an 18% jump in global earnings in the three months to June to £2.2bn, despite volume sales dipping 1.1%.

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