In January 2003, Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd, China’s largest brewer, announced that its shareholders had approved a strategic investment to be made by Anheuser-Busch (A-B). The St Louis-based brewer and maker of Budweiser and Bud Light beers, said last October it would boost its stake in Tsingtao to 27 percent by the end of the decade. Like many other international brewers, A-B had initially entered China on the assumption it could take on the domestic brewers head on. It has since learnt the lesson that it makes greater financial sense to seek a partner in order to enhance its foothold in China, the world’s second largest beer market.
Under the deal, Tsingtao will issue convertible bonds to Anheuser-Busch in three instalments valued at around US$182 million in total..

At the beginning of February 2003, the board of Southcorp, Australia’s largest wine producer, sought and obtained the resignation of CEO Keith Lambert with immediate effect. Southcorp’s CEO Keith Lambert was forced to resign, just two weeks after the wine making giant had delivered its second earnings downgrade in less than a year. The board, including Lambert’s father-in-law Bob Oatley, asked the chief executive to leave.
Lambert is married to the daughter of Southcorp deputy chairman Oatley, the founder of Rosemont Estates which merged with Southcorp in July 2001. Bob Oatley and his son, Sandy Oatley, who is also on the Southcorp board, are directors of Reline Investments, which is Southcorp’s biggest shareholder.1 million for fiscal 2003..

There seems to be no stopping the Australians. First it was the Foster’s Group, which tied the knot with the American wine producer Beringer Wine Estates in 2000. Now it’s Foster’s Australian competitor BRL Hardy, who has proposed a merger with the Constellation Brands group of America. If the merger is okayed - Constellation Brands is bidding US$1.9 billion (10 February 2003) - it will create the world’s biggest wine company worth more than US$ 5 billion with annual sales of US$ 3 billion. BRL Hardy’s brands include Banrock Station, Hardy’s Nottage Hill, Eileen Hardy and Leasingham. For some years now, Australia has been the driving force in the interna- tional wine industry. Australian wine exports rose from A$180 million in 1991 to A$2. The UK is Australia’s biggest market..

New Zealand has banned the Czech brewery Budejovicky Budvar from using the traditional Budweiser trademark in the country, but Jiri Bocek, CEO of Budejovicky Budvar, claims that the decision is not a definitive one. Err, really?
Bocek was quoted as saying that while the ruling bans Budejovicky from using the trademark, at the same time it also confirms the validity of the trademark for Budejovicky Budvar beer. However, the implication is that that American brewer Anheuser-Busch now holds the right to use the trademark in New Zealand. Budejovicky Budvar, which has been fighting for its right to make use of the Budweiser trademark across the globe, is currently caught up in about 40 legal disputes with Anheuser-Busch, as well as in about 40 proceedings at patent offices..

It may be a large central Asian country with a population of only 16 million of whom 47 percent are Muslims, but its ethnic Russians and Ukrainians certainly enjoy a beer every now and then. That’s why Heineken has increased its stake in the brewery Dinal, located in the former capital of Almaty (1.2 m inhabitants) from 28 percent to 51 percent. Heineken first bought into Dinal in 1999 when the brewery came on stream. Its capacity is reported to be 300,000 hl of beer annually; estimated sales for 2002 are 180,000 hl. Last year, turnover was EUR8 million. Dinal has a market share of 8 percent with its local brand Tian Shan and the international brand Amstel. 800,000 hl), also located in Almaty.
BBH has identified substantial potential for growth in Kazakhstan.4 million hl..

In order to reduce costs and combat over-capacity, Japan’s third largest brewer Sapporo Breweries Ltd. will shut down two breweries, one in Sapporo and another one in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture by December 2003. The closing of the two plants, of which the Sapporo brewery is one of the city’s main tourist attractions, will cost Sapporo more than ¥14 billion and leave it with just six domestic breweries. Although Sapporo introduced low malt beers before Asahi entered the segment and even reported a profit increase for the year ended December 2001 while Kirin Brewery Co. posted a profit decline, Sapporo did not see that the writing was on the wall when in February this year Kirin launched a low malt beer costing ¥10 less than the ¥135 average for low malt brews... and came too late..

Belgium’s Interbrew and Australia’s Foster’s Group have renewed their licensing contract for Stella Artois for another 10 years. The contract allows Foster’s Australian division Carlton & United, CUB, to brew, distribute and market Stella Artois in Australia. Interbrew and Foster’s first signed an agreement five years ago. Since then Stella Artois has risen to one of Australia’s top 10 beer brands according to volume, reports Interbrew. Stella’s popularity has profited from the premium segment gaining in market share. Having grown at an average of 15 percent annually, premium lagers now control almost 7 percent of the beer market which stood at more than 17 million hl in 2001 and is dominated by Foster’s CUB and Lion Nathan..

In the rest of Australia, craft brewers may be scarce and few in between. Not so in Western Australia, a state ten times the size of the United Kingdom with only 1.8 million inhabitants. There craft brewing is alive and well writes John Harvey from Adelaide. At Fremantle (the seaport for Perth, the state’s capital) the Little Creatures Brewing Co made a very successful debut last year under the guidance of Phil Sexton, one of the pioneers of the small brewery movement in Australia in the 1980s. Early this year he launched Rogers’ Beer, an amber ale style beer at 3.8% ABV which is notable for a distinct hop character and named for two semi-retired stalwarts of mainstream Australian brewing - Roger Bailey and Roger Bussell - who were persuaded to bring their experience to its production.e..

True stories of success usually begin with a leap in the dark involving great courage as well as plenty of pioneering spirit. Even if these prerequisites are met, real stories of success come about very seldom on their own. A great deal of dedication, the right idea, the right point in time, and the right people – it must all fit together. A fact that not only the "Bravo pioneers" can corroborate.

"A story book career" is the saying that repeatedly comes to mind of those who examine the development of Bravo, St. Petersburg more closely. It all began when several executive employees from the Viking Brewery in Iceland ventured to St. Petersburg in 1993 to make their fortunes in the Russian beverage trade. The situation in St... Petersburg. The next idea: Alcopops.
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After its start in St. Petersburg in 1990, the Baltika Brewery has become one of the biggest economic success stories of the post-Soviet period. In its short history, Baltika has managed to establish itself as the leading brewer in Russia, and its impressive expansion looks set to continue.

Beginning with just under 1 percent of Russia’s beer market in 1991, the company has achieved a steady year-on-year growth that has taken it to the country’s leading position with a total market share of 23 percent. Baltika owns breweries in St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don and Tula, and new plants are under construction in Samara and Khabarovsk. In 2001, the company sold 14,006 million hectoliters of beer, a 32 percent rise over the previous year’s sales volume.S.
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