See you in court

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..

Heineken to buy majority stake in Dinal Brewery

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..

Sapporo to close two breweries

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..

Interbrew and Foster’s renew licence

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..

Craft brewing expands in Western Australia

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..

Third place among Russian breweries within three years Bravo’s story book career

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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Successful brewing in Russia

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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Heineken makes public offer for Baru

First they took Costa Rica and Nicaragua, then they took Egypt and Lebanon. Now it’s Panama. Makes you wonder who will be next! At the beginning of October Heineken and its Costa Rica-based Central American partner Florida Ice and Farm Co. (FIFCO) announced their intention to acquire the Panamanian brewery group, Cervecerias Baru-Panama S.A. (Baru) for USD56million or USD14.60 per Baru share.
Currently 52 percent of the Baru shares are owned by Coca-Cola Panama (CCP), the sole Panamanian Coca-Cola bottler. The remaining 48 percent of Baru’s shares are traded on the Panamanian Stock Exchange. The alliance (CABeverages) has direct control of Coca-Cola Panama, and thus indirect control of Baru. The company owns two breweries: one in Panama City and the other in David (Chiriqui province).

Heineken buys Almaza brewery

Think of Lebanon and immediately pictures come to mind of a war-torn city bearing the scars of more than 20 years of fighting and the loss of more than 60,000 lives. Lebanon, a country of 3.6 million Arabs and Armenians, descended into chaos in the mid-1970s when Muslim and Christian militias fought each other in Beirut and the countryside. The infamous Green Line, a deadly no-man’s land, split the city.
In its darkest hours, terrorist bombings and kidnappings of Americans and other Westerners became a way of life in a city once considered the Paris of the Middle East where young, affluent urbanites would study at the American University of Beirut in the mornings and stroll along the Corniche in
the evening.A.L for an undisclosed sum.5 percent market share..

Keep your customers satisfied

Oh dear. It must have been more than a storm in a tea cup. If Australia’s major brewer Carlton & United, CUB, (Foster’s Group) deems it necessary to explain the issue in its in-house magazine Cheers, then there must have been a real storm brewing out in the market.
In July it was hard to miss the considerable national press coverage given to changes in alcohol levels in a number of CUB’s national and regional beer brands, so we read in the most recent issue of Cheers. CUB’s Marketing Communications Manager David Park was quoted as saying that the reduction in alcohol was all about keeping beer affordable. "Since the early 1990s all Australian breweries have been exposed to regular, six-month price hikes in the Federal tax on alcohol in beer..