United Kingdom | Currently the market for craft beer is very tough and brewery failures are rising. But the private equity group Breal seems to believe that things will improve eventually and craft beer sales will rise again. Over the course of the past year, Breal has acquired four craft breweries on the cusp of going bust. Breal believes it can turn them around while adding more breweries to its portfolio in order to improve economies of scale.

Russia hikes duty on beer from “unfriendly” countries

Russia | The duty on imported beer from countries officially called “unfriendly” (that is most of Western countries) has risen 2.5 times, the Russian business paper Kommersant reported on 20 April. If it was RUB 4 per litre before, it is now RUB 10 (USD 0.11), according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Extreme drought: cava firm Freixenet furloughs 80 percent of staff

Spain | With Catalonia experiencing its fourth successive year of drought, the Spanish-German cava giant Freixenet, a brand of sparkling wines, is to furlough 80 percent of its workers in the north-eastern Spanish region, media reported on 23 April.

Big Businesses wait months to pay UK suppliers

United Kingdom | Major companies with a presence in Britain, including brewer AB-InBev and the bottler Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, are taking well over 100 days to pay back their suppliers, according to the latest report on invoice payments by Good Business Pays, a think tank, released in March.

Russia | Russia's Baltika is suing four Carlsberg subsidiaries for damages amounting to DKK 6.24 billion (USD 902 million), it was reported on 1 April (despite the date, this is no joke).

AB-InBev-Efes’ top management defects to ex-Heineken unit

Russia | After the sudden resignation of its CEO, Russia’s leading brewer AB-InBev-Efes has appointed Olga Oryol to succeed Oraz Durdyyew, according to Russian news agency Interfax on 22 March.

Belgium | Production at the Duvel Moortgat brewery in Puurs-Sint-Amands (Antwerp) only restarted on 7 March, after a ransomware attack three days previously had halted production at its several breweries in Belgium and the United States. The cyber attack is under investigation by the Antwerp public prosecutor's office.

The merger of two Luxembourg distributors seems to worry AB-InBev

Luxembourg | The drinks distributor Munhowen recently acquired another distributor, the family firm Heintz for some EUR 12 million to 15 million. However, the merger is now subject to scrutiny by the European Commission. The European executive must determine whether the merger restricts competition in the market.

Dublin City traffic plan not so good for Guinness

Ireland | Guinness brewer Diageo urged Dublin City Council not to block its “historic” route to Dublin Port by removing its lorries from the north and south quays. Presently, Guinness’s lorries with its iconic stout for export cross the city along the quays of the river Liffey, if they want to reach the port (in the east of Dublin) from St James’s Gate brewery.

Diageo’s mulls sale of iconic Wimbledon drink Pimm’s

United Kingdom | Drinks firm Diageo is reportedly exploring the sale of a trio of non-core brands including Pimm’s. According to Sky News, the company has hired bankers at Rothschild to explore whether to sell Pimm’s. The red tipple was acquired in 1997, when Grand Metropolitan and Guinness merged to become Diageo.