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..

Foster’s on the prowl

Once upon a time people did what they had to do and only talked about it afterwards. Nowadays they talk about doing it before they do it. Take Foster’s. At a recent investment conference, Foster’s Beringer Blass Wine Estates Managing Director Walter Klenz was quoted as saying that his company was looking for more scale in Europe.
What could he possibly mean? Well, that Foster’s was on the lookout for European wineries. Foster’s has convertible bonds valued at USD400 million which are due next October and the funds from these bonds could be used to finance an acquisition overseas.
In 2002 (end of June 2002) Foster’s turnover was USD2.5 billion and its market capitalisation USD5.2 billion. Southcorp’s turnover in the same period was USD1.2 billion..

The last brew

For their faithful customers, Coopers Brewery of Adelaide released The Last Brew of Coopers Sparkling Ale from their now demolished Lea-brook brewery with a special commemorative back label. Needless to add that stocks were limited. A carton of 12 bottles costs A$36.

Beware of statistics

Although the 77 million inhabitants of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam only earn US$370 per year - that’s the country’s GDP per person - and drink less than a litre of beer per person per year, Foster’s Group decided to buy the assets of the Danang State Brewery for A$8 million (US$4.6 million) in July 2002. Foster’s announced that the purchase of the brewery and the Song Han licence would allow it to double the capacity of its own brewery at Danang, which is located halfway between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi and serves a city of 400,000 people, to 6 million cases of beer (500,000 hl). Foster’s operates a third brewery outside Ho Chi Minh City. The deal gives Foster’s a 12 per cent share of the 7.5 million hl Vietnamese beer market.

Globalisation and the dilemma of brands

Let’s start with a question: What is a pan-Asian beer brand? A brand like Tsingtao (China) or Singha (Thailand) which dominates its domestic market but has only marginal market share in Asia? Even the brand San Miguel, which comes out of Manila and claims to be the "Great Asian Beer" remains very much in the wings in markets other than the Philippines and Hong Kong. The same is true for Tiger, a brand which its parent Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) - the 70-year-old joint-venture between Heineken and Singapore’s Fraser & Neave - has taken around Southeast Asian markets and positioned as an international beer brand. "International" in this case meaning "Western". In the past, most of APB’s ads cast Caucasians to give Tiger a Western appeal. The strategy worked.e. Time will tell..

Nursing a depression

Despite industry-wide price cuts in June, low malt beer has apparently begun to suffer a fall in popularity. In the first six months of 2002, total beer and lowmalt beer sales fell 4.6 per cent year on year to 259.57 million cases (a case is equivalent to 20 633ml bottles), the second consecutive half-year drop. While regular beer sales declined 13.9 per cent to 158.7 million cases, those of happoshu rose 15 per cent to 100.86 million cases. That however compares with a 52.8 per cent jump in the first six months of 2001. Low malt beers accounted for 38.9 per cent of total beer sales.