Patience (helped by wads of dollars) eventually paid off. Five years after entering initial takeover discussions, Diageo can finally claim ownership of United Spirits (USL), India’s major drinks company, media reported on 23 June 2014.

Five years ago, when cider barely registered as a popular drink, Australian politicians and lawmakers were loudly voicing their concerns about the increasing consumption of pre-mixed spirits (“alcopops”). Now in 2014 the latest data from Roy Morgan Research reveal that cider consumption is about to overtake that of pre-mixed spirits, perhaps within months.

Craft beer sales may be on the rise in Australia, but craft beer brewers are still struggling to make serious inroads into the lucrative on-premise sector. Why? Because they suspect that the country’s two big brewers have managed to protect their dominance over the beer taps of Australia’s pubs and bars.

The recent decision (May 2014) by French luxury goods company Moët Hennessy to launch a new e-commerce site that sells the company’s entire portfolio of wine and spirits directly to the public has been met with outrage by liquor retailers, Australian media report.

“No” was the word most frequently used by Australia’s Treasury Wine Estates’ PR in May. “No”, the world’s number two wine company was not in talks to be acquired by China’s Bright Food Group. And “no”, it had not been approached by either Pernod Ricard or Constellation Brands for its U.S. business.

Is it because Australian beer drinkers are shunning traditional brands that SABMiller on 23 May 2014 had to report that three of its top Australian brands have witnessed declines in volumes over the past year?

Global drinks group Diageo has received regulatory approval for an open offer to acquire a 26 percent stake in United Spirits for an estimated Rs 114.48 billion (EUR 1.4 billion/USD 1.9 billion), it was reported.

Alison Watkins, the new Group Managing Director of Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) is not to be envied her task at hand: turning CCA around. Nothing less will do. CCA’s stock is down over 40 percent since May last year, reducing the soft drink-to alcohol-producer’s market value to AUD 7.3 billion (EUR 4.9 billion).

Over 300 delegates attended the IBD Asia Pacific Convention in Vietnam (23 to 28 March 2014).

Last week’s announcement (29 April 2014) by the Australian consumer watchdog ACCC that it has reprimanded brewer Carlton & United (CUB) over the manner in which it advertised Byron Bay Pale Lager (Brauwelt International reported) seems set to have wider implications for the brewing industry.