Miller High Life Shipment Destroyed After ‘Champagne of Beers’ Slogan: NPR
A worker dumps empty cans of Miller High Life beer into a crushing machine at the Westlandia plant in Ypres, Belgium, Monday.
The Champagne Committee via AP
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The Champagne Committee via AP
A worker dumps empty cans of Miller High Life beer into a crushing machine at the Westlandia plant in Ypres, Belgium, Monday.
The Champagne Committee via AP
BRUSSELS — Champagne’s guardians won’t let anyone take the bubbly drink’s name in vain, not even an American beer behemoth.
For years, Miller High Life has used the slogan “Champagne of Beers”. This week, that grant became impossible to swallow.
At the request of the trade body that defends the interests of houses and growers of the northeastern French sparkling wine, Belgian customs crushed more than 2,000 cans of Miller High Life advertised as such.
Comité Champagne requested the destruction of a shipment of 2,352 cases on the grounds that the century-old motto used by the American brewery infringes the protected designation of origin “Champagne”.
The shipment was intercepted at the Belgian port of Antwerp in early February, a Belgian customs spokesman said on Friday, and was destined for Germany.
Molson Coors Beverage Co., which owns the Miller High Life brand, does not currently export it to the EU, and Belgian customs declined to say who had ordered the beers.
The buyer in Germany “was informed and did not contest the decision,” the trade organization said in a statement.
Frederick Miller, a German immigrant to the United States, founded the Miller Brewing Company in the 1850s. Miller High Life, its oldest brand, was launched as its flagship in 1903.
According to the Milwaukee-based brand’s website, the company began using the “Champagne of Bottle Beers” nickname three years later. It was shortened to “The Champagne of Beers” in 1969. The beer has also been available in champagne-style 750-milliliter bottles during the holiday season.
“With its elegant, clear glass bottle and crisp taste, Miller High Life has proudly carried the nickname ‘The Champagne of Beers’ for nearly 120 years,” said Molson Coors Beverage Co. in a statement to the Associated Press.
The slogan is against EU rules
However popular the slogan is in the US, it is incompatible with EU rules which make it clear that goods in breach of a protected designation of origin can be treated as counterfeit.
The 27-nation bloc has a system of protected geographical indications created to guarantee the true origin and quality of artisan food, wine and spirits, and protect them from imitation. This market is worth nearly 75 billion euros ($87 billion) annually — half of that in wine, according to a 2020 study by the EU’s executive arm.
Charles Goemaere, executive director of Comité Champagne, said the destruction of the beers “confirms the importance that the European Union attaches to designations of origin and rewards the determination of champagne producers to protect their designation.”
Molson Coors Beverage Co. said it “respects local restrictions” around the word Champagne.
“However, we remain proud of Miller High Life, its nickname and its Milwaukee, Wisconsin provenance,” the company said. “We invite our friends in Europe to the US anytime to toast the High Life together.”
Belgian customs said the destruction of the boxes was paid for by the Comité Champagne. According to their joint statement, it was carried out “with the utmost respect for environmental concerns by ensuring that the entire batch, both content and container, was recycled in an environmentally responsible manner.”
