China | In early November 2021 drinks company Diageo broke ground on its first, USD 75 million whisky distillery in China. It hopes to turn more local drinkers into whisky lovers, in a market that has long been dominated by baijiu makers like Kweichow Moutai.

China | China’s beer production has been on a downward slope since 2013. In 2020, the domestic beer output stood at 341 million hl, which is a 7 percent decline over 2019. If this downward trend continues, the market leader, China Resources beer, which makes Snow beer, will be lucky to achieve flattish volume sales, observers say.

Australia | After it emerged unscathed from the first covid year, Coopers Brewery saw its beer volumes tumble by 8 percent in the July-to-October period this year due to lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne and uncertainty in other markets.

Australia | With big corporations it is always chopping and changing. After a strategic review, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) announced that it will be withdrawing from the Australian beer and cider market. Can it be the same company that only a decade ago made a big foray into beer, following a strategic review?

Australia | As the pandemic and lockdowns take their toll, Southern Bay Brewing has collapsed into liquidation. Southern Bay, which was among the first wave of craft brewers in Australia, has been operating from the regional city of Geelong, 70 km south of Melbourne, for some 30 years. It was previously known as Geelong Brewing Company.

Australia | Supermarkets and brewers have been thrown into chaos due to a rapidly unfolding pallet shortage. Some of the nation’s largest breweries have considered slashing production by up to 50 percent – a move set to cost millions – because there are not enough pallets for stock to be transported on. Beer supplies could be tight around Christmas, Australia’s peak selling season, and in the next year.

Australia | Danny Celoni, the boss of the PepsiCo’s operations in Australasia, has been hired to run Australia’s biggest beer business, Carlton & United Breweries (CUB). He will start in February next year and replaces Peter Filipovic, who is bowing out after 25 years with CUB. This was announced on 7 October 2021.

India | India’s antitrust watchdog (CCI) imposed a penalty of USD 102 million on Heineken-controlled beer giant United Breweries, and USD 16 million on the local unit of Carlsberg for collusion between 2009 and October 2018. Eleven managers were fined too.

Australia | Despite having been in and out of lockdowns for longer than any of us, many Australians have become rather serene about their lot. But come the sale of craft brewer Stone & Wood to the country’s number two brewer, Kirin-owned Lion, in September, there was suddenly talk about it “sending shockwaves through the industry” (the website craftypint.com). Elsewhere, the acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, has been described as a bombshell, the end of an era, a devastating blow for the independent sector, etc.

Australia | It sent shockwaves around the industry when Lion announced it has acquired 100 percent of the Fermentum Group, which owns one of the country’s largest and most staunchly independent craft brewers, Stone & Wood, for an estimated AUD 500 million (USD 370 million). The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, was reported on 9 September 2021.