Foster’s has sacked 100 workers from its Melbourne corporate headquarters. The staff – from the company’s back office, including the marketing and finance teams – were told of the redundancies on 6 June 2011. They join 50 workers from the Foster’s company’s Abbotsford brewery outside Melbourne who were made redundant last month.

AB-InBev and China Resources Snow Breweries (the SABMiller joint venture) are gearing up for expansion in southwestern China’s Guangxi region, a market that has long been dominated by Yanjing and Tsingtao breweries.

So much for stock market hype. As soon as the rumour broke that the most unlikely of buyers had set their eyes on Foster’s, shares in the brewer went up more than 7 percent early on 3 June 2011, raising its market capitalisation to USD 9.5 billion. It seems that investors must be getting so desperate for a deal that, if only for a second, they could believe a bid by Molson Coors and Mexico’s Grupo Modelo was in the offing.

Foster’s former wine unit, Treasury Wine Estates, which still happens to be the world’s number two wine company with vineyards from Hunter Valley near Sydney to California’s Napa Valley, ended its first day on the stock exchange (9 May 2011) with a market value of AUD 2.18 billion (USD 2.32 billion), near the top end of brokers’ valuations.

Do they quicken your pulse? Or get you into a state? Pre-mixed energy drinks with alcohol like “Pulse” have been quite the rage in recent years. Many people have been asking themselves: what’s the point of selling pre-mixed alcoholic energy drinks? Why mix stimulants (guarana, caffeine) and depressants (alcohol)? As these drinks send mixed messages to the nervous system, they could soon be banned. These fizzy drinks are popular with young people and contain alcohol and high levels of caffeine, allowing consumers to drink longer and harder.

Foster’s is no more. Shareholders of Australia’s Foster’s Group unanimously voted on 29 April 2011 in support of splitting the firm’s beer and wine operations, a decision that marks an historic event. The move will create Treasury Wine Estates, with AUD 1.9 billion (USD 2.1 billion) in revenues, while the new Foster’s will remain Australia’s largest brewer with revenues of AUD 2.6 billion (USD 2.8 billion).

The royal wedding – arentyousickofit? But it ain’t over yet. Now the world has been put into the know that Foster’s has sent a bottle (number 2904) of Foster’s 2011 Crown Ambassador Reserve Lager as a wedding gift to Prince William and Kate Middleton … the number marks their marriage date (29 April).

Let this be a warning to all armchair strategists: the much discussed tie-up between AB-InBev and SABMiller could run into troubles in China if the latest deal is anything to go by. At the beginning of April 2011, Kingway Brewery announced that its controlling shareholder GDH Ltd has exercised its right to buy the 21.37 percent stake currently held by a Heineken joint venture.

For a few days in March 2011 Australia’s major brewer, Foster’s, stopped delivering its VB, Carlton Draught and Pure Blonde brands to Coles’ First Choice liquor stores and Woolworths’ Dan Murphy’s chain after learning that the two big retailers intended to sell them for AUD 28 per carton of 24 bottles. The usual wholesale price of a VB carton is AUD 33, and the usual retail price is AUD 38, it was reported.

The German discount retailer Aldi has been selling liquor in the state of Victoria for seven years, offering about 70 varieties of non-refrigerated beer, wine and ready-to-drink spirits, most of which are Aldi brand products. In March, it was reported, Aldi applied for the right to sell alcohol in its New South Wales (NSW) stores too, which is its latest attempt to disrupt the Woolworths and Coles grocery and liquor duopoly.