We have no idea what it’s like to spray something resembling shaving foam into your mouth but soft drink company Britvic thinks its latest offering, Turbo Tango, has great potential. Turbo Tango, launched in the UK at the end of June 2011, is a variant of the fizzy fruit drink, which is dispensed through an aerosol container using "nitro-fuelled" technology.

After a headline-grabbing strike and 18 months of hard-bargaining, the Belgian unions scored a victory. Instead of the 300 jobs, which had been identified for the axe in early 2010, only 167 are to go.

Heineken is front row and centre of a PR disaster. Thousands of pensioners from the former Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) brewery, represented by the S&N Pensioners Group think that the company’s new owner, Heineken, has not honoured pension promises. On 6 June 2011 the S&N Pensions Group (SNPG) made big headlines. Following Heineken’s announcement that they would not provide a discretionary pension increase in 2010, SNPG screamed murder because they think Heineken’s decision was in defiance of an assurance given by Heineken when they bought S&N in 2008.

In a highly unusual move, the leading speciality beer producer Duvel Moortgat plans to appoint Alain Beyens, 49, to its board. Mr Beyens is currently CEO of StarBev, which is the central European beer unit AB-InBev sold to private equity outfit CVC in 2009 for close to USD 3 billion. Before that Mr Beyens served in various roles for AB-InBev. He was General Manager for Belgium and Germany and later Zone President for Central Europe and Zone President for Western Europe. As a matter of fact, Mr Beyens was one of Duvel Moortgat’s major competitors in a number of markets.

Brewers know only too well that governments like to bite the hand that feeds them. Skyrocketing taxes on beer in some European countries is a case in point. The Brewers of Europe, fortunately, never tire of telling politicians that by providing over EUR 57 billion in taxes to European governments and directly and indirectly employing over 2.5 million people, the brewing sector is a large contributor to the European economy and that any tinkering with taxation will put lots of companies and jobs at risk.

The Irish are feeling bitter. Only hours after U.S. president Barak Obama did a publicity stunt for Guinness when he ordered a pint of the black stuff in a Moneygall pub on 23 May 2011, the drinks group was telling 400 of its 1,700 Irish staff to brace themselves for job losses. The Irish are not alone. The brunt of the job cuts is expected to be borne by workers in countries that have underperformed in recent years, including Spain.

You have to give it to AB-InBev: they are reassuringly predictable. If they spot a category that’s growing, they will have a product for it in no time. Viz Stella Artois Cidre. Not a cider, but a cidre. Already in February 2011 the brewer of Stella Artois beer unveiled Cidre, a “premium, crisp and refreshing” attempt to cash in on booming sales of the drink. Supported by a “double-digit” million-pound marketing spend Cidre hit the supermarket shelves at Easter. A premium Belgian cider allegedly made from apples fresh from the orchard, fermented in Belgium and imported to the UK, Stella Artois Cidre has a crisp and refreshing taste at 4.5 percent abv. The cidre is available in 568 ml bottles and 440 ml cans and since May it is sold in the on-trade too, although not in draught form.

It may be the dawn of a new era at SABMiller with SABMiller’s Chief Financial Officer Malcolm Wyman retiring at the end of August to be replaced by internal candidate James Wilson, 51, who currently works as finance director at SABMiller Europe. Not only does the personnel change announced on 4 May 2011 throw the spotlight on when Chief Executive Graham Mackay decides to retire. The London Financial Times says that that Mr Mackay, 61, is widely expected to retire in the next year or two.

Many raised an eyebrow when AB-InBev reported its first quarter 2011 figures. While in the U.S. the world’s number one brewer lost about one million hl in beer output compared to the same quarter last year, beer sales in Western Europe were up 0.4 percent. In Germany, sales rose almost one percent.

Now that Carlsberg’s exit from the German market seems imminent – the Danes are rumoured to be in finishing talks with Radeberger Group over the sale of their Holsten unit – it’s time to ponder Carlsberg’s motives for entering and leaving.