Australia’s leading retailer Woolworths again faces the scrutiny of Australia’s competition custodians after it revealed in late February 2011 an AUD 340 million deal to buy the dominant direct wine merchant Cellarmasters.

Consolidation of the Chinese beer market is gathering pace. China Resources Enterprises, which is in a joint venture with SABMiller and also happens to be China’s major brewer, bought a 21.37 percent stake in Kingway Brewery on 9 March 2011 according to a Hong Kong stock exchange disclosure.

When Turkey’s Islamist-rooted conservative government introduced another 30 percent tax hike on alcohol in October 2010, amidst protests from café owners and beverage producers, many market observers thought that Diageo’s then rumoured deal with Turkey’s raki maker Mey Icki would fall through. But no. Diageo agreed on 21 February 2011 to buy Mey Icki for GBP 1.3 billion (USD 2.1 billion). Given that Diageo declined to buy Swedish vodka Absolut in 2008, the Turkish move is the first multibillion-dollar deal by Diageo in more than a decade. What is more, it is indicative of a major change in policy at Diageo’s. For the first time, Diageo was prepared to spend loads of money on a drinks business in an emerging market as “complex” (ahem) as Turkey’s.

Who will buy Foster’s beer business? That’s a really good question as the Foster’s Group prepares for its demerger. Already, Japanese beer group Asahi Breweries has taken itself out of the running to buy Foster’s beer arm, calling the assets too expensive, as did Coca-Cola Amatil’s boss Terry Davis who also thinks Foster’s looks a little too pricey. Which thins the ranks of the usual suspects down to SABMiller.

It’s a sad sight to behold. Walk into any Australian alcohol sales outlet and you will notice immediately the promotion offers clinging on to wine bottle necks. It cannot have been fun being an Australian wine producer these past years as the industry suffered from overproduction and a rising Australian currency which seriously hampered export sales. On 15 February 2011 Foster’s reported that during the first half of its current financial year (ended 31 December 2011) wine profit from sales in Australia and New Zealand rose 7 percent to AUD 39.6 million. Profit from wine in North America and South America gained 24 percent to AUD 54.2 million while in Europe, the Middle East and Africa wine turned to a loss of AUD 500,000 from a profit of AUD 12 million a year earlier.

NSF International, a global not-for-profit public health and safety organization, has opened its new NSF Shanghai Testing Laboratory in Shanghai, China, expanding its services in Asia to include testing in the areas of food equipment, dietary supplements and ingredients, and consumer products. Additionally, the facility and staff will provide on-site training in the areas of food safety, pharmaceutical, medical device and dietary supplement manufacturing.

Many thought they would never see it happen. On 15 February 2011 Foster’s Group finally announced its split to go ahead in May this year.

We have been saying for ages that India is not a single market. It’s a cluster of 28 states and seven union territories, suffering from chronic over-regulation and under-governance. Although SABMiller, the country’s number two brewer, has done the only feasible thing and tackled the huge market on a state-by-state basis, it has nevertheless seen its market share drop to little above 20 percent, down from 35 percent in 2008, the high-brow newspaper The Times of India reported on 7 February 2011. SABMiller, with a portfolio of popular brands such as Foster’s, Royal Challenge Premium Lager and Haywards 5000, has struggled to hold on to its one-fifth share during the last quarter 2010, the paper said.

A report prepared by an independent panel, commissioned by the Australian & New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council, recommends that all alcoholic beverages should carry labels warning pregnant women of the risks of drinking alcohol and also that labels should have details of the relevant energy contents. These recommendations to the Federal Government are amongst more than 60 presented by the Blewett panel. Brewer Lion Nathan, with a market share of 43 percent, promptly announced on 28 January 2011 that it would voluntarily print a warning on its labels to caution pregnant women against the dangers of alcohol to unborn babies. It also agreed to start using a generic warning message, which the labelling review has suggested might be “Alcohol can damage your health”, or “Drinking to excess is a danger to yourself and those around you”.

Spreading rumours is a wonderful thing. Especially if rumours contradict each other. Take Foster’s.