US. The Coming Threat to Your Craft Brew

  • Reading time:7 min(s) read

Over at Washington Monthly, Tim Heffernan has an in-depth piece [1]on a topic dear to my heart [2]: the stunning consolidation of the US beer industry. He points out, as I have before, that two vast, globe-spanning companies, SABMliler and Anheuser-Busch InBev, control 80 percent of the US beer market. Heffernan argues that the two companies have essentially hit a wall in getting much bigger here—consolidation is already so extreme that there just isn’t much more consolidating to do without provoking the ire of antitrust authorities. To increase their profits, he shows, the companies are moving toward a vertical-integration strategy: gunning for control of the distribution and wholesaling. That way, they can grow by extracting more revenue and profit out of each dollar Americans spend on beer. (more…)

Ghana. Accra Brewery Limited Appoints New Marketing and Supply Chain Directors

  • Reading time:3 min(s) read

Mr. Michael Adrian Norton Olsen and Mr. Richard Edzeame have been appointed the new Marketing and Supply Chain Directors of Accra Brewery Limited respectively, effective 1st November 2012. Mr. Olsen replaces Mr. Philip Norley, who has since left the company, whiles Mr. Edzeame is to take over from Mr. Tony Medway, who departs at the end of the year. (more…)

Kirin Confirms Tender of Fraser & Neave Stake

  • Reading time:2 min(s) read

–Kirin Holdings to tender entire stake in Fraser & Neave for S$1.9B
–Kirin then aims to buy back F&N’s food and beverage ops for S$2.7B
–Kirin shares fall in Friday trading on fears about additional M&A costs (more…)

Brau Beviale 2012: “sector full of optimism”

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Beverage industry doesn’t allow the good mood to be spoilt
New opening days increase number of visitors to 32,810*
A good 100 participants at first European MicroBrew Symposium (more…)

UK. Banned at home, Pakistan brewery seizes Hollywood moment

  • Reading time:5 min(s) read

What have Demi Moore, Bruce Willis, underage drinking and Pakistan’s only beer maker got in common?

It was the arrest of the Hollywood stars’ daughter in New York with a can of Murree Brewery’s (MUBR.KA) beer last June that propelled the company out of obscurity and into the spotlight. (more…)

Kirin Follows Heineken With $2.2 Billion Offer; Shares Tumble

  • Reading time:3 min(s) read

Kirin Holdings Co. (2503), Japan’s largest drinks maker, may pay S$2.7 billion ($2.2 billion) to expand in Southeast Asia, following brewers Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI) and Heineken NV (HEIA) as they buy into emerging-market growth. (more…)