The Ziemann Group has received an order to build a turnkey brewery in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The contract for the engineering and construction of a state-of-the-art plant was signed at a formal ceremony on 13 December. The order has been placed by the Chip Mong Group, a family-owned enterprise.

Heineken and the colourful Indian tycoon fell out with each other early last year, when Heineken took over a 37.5 percent stake in UB, India’s largest brewer, which is also 37.5 percent co-owned by Mr Mallya.

Lion Nathan also launched a new beer, Boag’s Pure, a super-premium full-strength lager at 4.5 percent ABV, which is brewed from Tasmanian barley malt, hops and water only with local Southern Hallertau hops used late in the boil to provide aroma.

The Citigroup beverage trends analysis for October 2009 says that sales of RTDs or alcopops have returned to their pre-tax-hike double-digit growth trajectory.

Global energy drink volumes increased by 2 percent in 2008 to 3.9 billion litres, almost double the 2.0 billion litres sold in 2003, according to the latest report from leading food and drink consultancy Zenith International. Average growth over the past five years has been 14 percent a year.

Two brands, Strongbow and Mercury (both Foster’s Group), currently have a dominant grip on the domestic market. Other brewers involved in cider are Lion Nathan with Five Seeds, Little Creatures with Pipsqueak and Gage Roads with Blue Angel. In addition, Suntory Australia imports Magners, the original Irish cider. Included in new domestic lines are low-carb ciders such as Strongbow Clear.

Mr Johnston blamed mistakes by his predecessors Ted Kunkel and Trevor O’Hoy, who paid too much for Beringer Wine Estates and Southcorp respectively, and ill-fated attempts to combine beer, wine and spirits marketing operations for much of the malaise.

An agreement whereby Lion Nathan will undertake the Australian distribution of the Budweiser range of products from later this year has been reached with AB-InBev. The agreement adds to existing arrangements between the companies going back over 20 years and includes a provision for local brewing of Budweiser as demand grows.

Australia’s punters are bitter over the latest change in the recipe of Australia’s favourite beer VB, writes John Harvey. In August 2009, Carlton and United Breweries (CUB), Foster’s local beer unit, cut the alcohol content of VB by 0.2 percent, saving tens of millions of dollars a year in beer tax and preventing a price rise while promising that the taste would be unchanged.

To the delight of Australia’s shoppers, writes John Harvey from Adelaide, the two retailers are undercutting prices viciously and engaging in “parallel importing” of major French brands. The battle, which has caused some stores to have customer waiting lists for lines in high demand, will probably force smaller players to cease carrying key imported brands.