Although microbreweries are still suffering from a decline in business caused by the recession, Baan Tawandang Co. announced the opening of the country’s largest brewpub on Rama III Road in Bangkok. It has room for 1,000 customers and a brewing capacity of 5,000 hl annually. Tawandang Brew House represents a 70 million baht investment (US$1.87 million). By targeting the middle-income earners, the brewpub is expected to turn over 10 million baht a month (US$270,000). Break-even is scheduled for 2002. Tawandang Brew House is a spin-off from Baan Tawandang Co., which was set up six years ago and runs three pubs in Bangkok with a total of 2,500 seats. The brewpub will supply 30 per cent of its beer to the group’s other outlets.

Thailand’s Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has granted a 30 mg increase of caffeine content in energy drinks to 80 mg a bottle. The ruling, which includes control of advertisements, will be forwarded to the National Food Commission before it is endorsed as an FDA announcement. However, the Foundation for Consumers questioned the FDA’s role in protecting consumers’ health. The Foundation expressed doubts over how the FDA would control the consumption of such energy drinks when it has not been able to reduce the daily consumption of energy drinks with a lower caffeine content.

The Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Board (TTWB), a state-owned monopoly producer of tobacco and alcoholic drinks, will be incorporated as Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Corp. The Ministry of Finance has already approved of the plan. After the expected enactment of the Tobacco and Alcoholic Drinks Law, the TTWB will apply to the Ministry of Economic Affairs to incorporate itself. The new company will have five divisions: beer, tobacco, wine, liquor and distribution. Each division will be run as a profit centre. The TTWB also acts as an importer of tobacco and alcoholic drinks.

In December new licensing laws came into effect which allow the sale of beer in supermarkets and the sale on everyday of the year except Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Christmas Day. The legal age for alcohol consumption has been lowered from 20 to 18 years. It is believed that supermarket sales of beer will soon reach the level of 20 per cent. In a declining beer market, New Zealand brewers have every reason to worry about their profits as big supermarket chains earn a little margin on the beer and treat is as a loss leader to provide shopping choice for consumers. In December some supermarkets were selling beer at up to NZ$7 lower than liquor stores to a 12-pack.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy and the ruling coalition parties agreed that from 2000 the tax rate on soju will be raised from 35 per cent to 80 per cent. This tax hike will increase the retail price of a 360ml bottle of soju from US58 cents to US78 cents. Sales of soju are expected to fall by 13 per cent. The ministry and the government also agreed to lower the tax rate on whisky from 100 per cent to 80 per cent and to gradually bring down the rate on beer from 130 per cent to 120 percent in 2000. Further rate cuts on beer are expected in 2001 (110%) and in 2002 (100%). Soju brewers have strongly opposed the tax reforms, saying that many soju brewers will face bankruptcy if the rate is raised by more than 10 per cent..

Kirin Brewery Co. and Anheuser Busch Co. signed a new contract which allows both brewers to share equally in the profits from Japanese sales of Budweiser. The contract is somewhat atypical as licensees usually receive a much smaller share in licensed production. Anheuser-Busch made the concession to give Kirin a stronger incentive to promote the product and increase sales. The original contract between Kirin and Anheuser-Busch dates back to1993 but will be liquidated by March due to mounting debt. Kirin Brewery Co. expects to post ¥64 billion in pre-tax profits for the year ended December 1999, up 6 per cent on the previous year. The increase, however, is mainly attributed to the company’s restructuring efforts. Sales are expected to drop about 1 per cent to ¥1,130 billion..

Although Germany has not succeeded yet in following the WHO’s recommendation to reduce per capita alcohol consumption to 2 litres annually - Germans on average still drink 10 litres of alcohol - the decline in alcohol consumption across the board in recent years has made health advocates cautiously optimistic. In its annual report, the German Agency Against the Dangers of Addiction, lists the government’s revenue from alcohol consumption at DM7.1 billion (US$3.75 billion) in 1998. The costs of alcohol abuse are estimated at DM60 billion (US$31.7 billion). For comparison, revenues from smoking are DM20 billion (US$10.5 billion), costs are DM80 billion (US$42.3 billion).
The issue communicated by members of the prevention community is not a NO to alcohol as such..

The Chairman and President of the Philippines’ Social Security System, Carlos Arellano, who also sits on the San Miguel Corp. board, announced that the Philippine food and beverage group was wanting to expand its brewing interests in China. According to Arellano, San Miguel was looking at a number of potential partners in the mainland, well aware that many of them are loss making. However, there was a possibility of turning them around with the help of a strategic partner. There was no mention of names. San Miguel beer is produced in the mainland in three San Miguel Corp. joint ventures.

According to AC Nielsen’s China Millennium Report, beer brands vary widely across cities. Each city market has a favourite label and, for many, it is a local brand. The survey found that half the people in urban China consumed beer in the "past three months". Seventy per cent of these were male and 30 per cent were female drinkers. Beer consumption was found to be highest in Fuzhou (69%), Qingdao and Beijing (62%) and Shenyang (59%), and the lowest in Nanjing and Wuhan (44%). Table

At the end of January, Southcorp, Lion Nathan and United Distillers & Vintners, three of Australia’s leading alcoholic beverage producers, have formed a joint venture to provide a business-to-business e-commerce service for Australia’s AUS$70 billion hospitality and retail liquor industry. The company, Artesian Innovation (www.artesian.com.au) is owned equally by the three partners and will pilot an online liquor trading and information service, servicing about 3,000 Sydney restaurants. The service will be offered nationally within months. Southcorp will extend the concept to its operations in the USA and is investigating other Internet activities. In the domestic market, Southcorp has approximately 40 per cent of wine, Lion Nathan 40 per cent of beer and UDV 40 per cent of spirits sales.

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