This is no small achievement for Australia’s third largest and still family-owned brewery: Coopers Brewery reported that beer production had lifted slightly to a record 629,000 hl in 2010/2011while the total beer market declined 6 percent.

It is that time of year again, when we analysts and journalists engage in introspecting the gone-by year and try to foretell the coming year – though, just a few days into New Year, it is hard to predict the course of industry in a very unpredictable country like India. But here is our take on what will shape the Indian beer industry in next twelve months.

The incoming owner of Foster’s has immediately put its stamp on the brewer, appointing one of its top operators to replace CEO John Pollaers.

From Russia with love

The day the world changed. On Christmas Day 1991 Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as the last leader of the Soviet Union and Boris Yeltsin ordered the red flag to be lowered from the Kremlin. With 20 years hindsight we know why the USSR disappeared, not with fireworks but a damp squib. President Yeltsin inherited a decaying, bankrupt, thoroughly militarised and just as thoroughly corrupt communist empire, which he set out to reform through a shock therapy to create a private sector and open up the country to private investment. Among the first to latch onto this opportunity were a motley crew of Nordic and Indian investors who thought that building the Russian beer market was the opportunity of a lifetime.

Having vented their anger at Foster’s Annual Meeting on 25 October 2011 over the allegedly excessive bonuses awarded to Foster’s CEO John Pollaers, shareholders in brewer Foster’s nevertheless gave an overwhelming go ahead to the takeover by SABMiller. On 1 December 2011 at the Scheme Meeting, 99 percent of the shareholders voted in favour of the deal. An OK from at least 75 percent had been required by Australian law.

“King of Good Times”: the marketing theme of India’s largest beer producer United Brewery Group (Kingfisher brand) is one of the most recalled advertising catch line in the Indian industry. UB Group sells more than half of the beers sold in India, while its liquor business controls three-fourths of the Indian market. And we are not talking about beer or spirits industry alone.

Let’s hope SABMiller know what they are getting themselves in. The country’s major retailers Coles and Woolworths are locked in a discount liquor price war as the festive season approaches. With prices cut by up to 31 percent at its Liquorland and 1st Choice chain of stores, Coles declared a "war on liquor prices" on 16 November 2011. That was not long before Woolworths countered by saying that prices in its Dan Murphy stores would always be lower.

Like most companies across Australia's retail, grocery and other consumer goods sectors, Lion continued to experience tough market conditions during its third quarter. The brewer-to-drinks-to-dairy company, which is wholly owned by Japan's Kirin, reported on 4 November 2011 its third quarter results for the three months to 30 June 2011.

Foster’s shareholders were not amused. Actually, they were quite irate at Foster’s – probably – last Annual General Meeting held in Sydney on 25 October 2011, as 42 percent of shareholders rejected an AUD 5.2 million (USD 5.5 million) pay and perks package for Chief Executive John Pollaers.

More often than not, beer packaging is one of the most challenging arenas for beer producers across the globe. By its nature, the beer industry is very dynamic, where product innovation and changes have happened at a very fast pace across the different geographies. However, innovations in packaging have followed quite longer cycles. Much of this limitation can be attributed to the product. From amphorae in ancient times to glass bottles and then metal cans in the 20th century, beer packaging has changed at a snail’s pace. Glass and metal have dominated the market for the last 50 years and continue to do so in Indian industry.