Huhu, so Russia’s legislators are thinking of banning the sale of beer in plastic bottles from January 2013. Could this ban hurt brewers’ sales? You bet it will. Russian brewers sell nearly half their beer – over 45 million hl – in plastic bottles, it was reported. Should brewers have seen this coming? Of course. Selling beer in multi-litre plastic bottles has always been risky, if not to say insidiously obscene. Beer is not a soft drink. Hence it should not be packaged like one.

On the beer front, the Czech Republic seems to be in a stalemate. No news in public about Budvar and any eventual privatisation. Or about Staropramen and how it is faring under the private equity regime of StarBev. Instead, there are worrying signs that the Czech beer export boom is over.

How to drag the UK economy out of the doldrums? Easy. Export more whisky. 2010 was a record year for Scotch whisky exports with global shipments rising by 10 percent to reach a value of GBP 3.45 billion (EUR 3.8 billion), according to figures published by The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA). The performance confirmed Scotch whisky as one of the UK’s top exporting industries. Scotch whisky exports have increased by 60 percent since the turn of the century, adding an extra GBP 1.29 billion in value (EUR 1.4 billion).

Poor souls. Having endured one restructuring after another, the recent rumour that Danish brewer Carlsberg will sell its local subsidiary will do little to put the minds of its German employees to rest. Carlsberg’s German unit Holsten (together with the Lübz brewery) continues to be churned through the rumour mill. About 18 months ago competitors alleged Carlsberg would close down its Holsten brewery in Hamburg and relocate production to Lübz. In March 2011, the German trade publication Inside speculated that Carlsberg Germany could be sold lock, stock and barrel to Radeberger Group. The privately-owned Radeberger Group happens to be Germany’s number one brewer and a few years ago was said to be in talks to acquire AB-InBev’s German unit.

Wars have started on less. Remember La guerra del fútbol, the four-day war fought by El Salvador and Honduras in 1969 over lost football matches? Should Russia’s Ministry of Finance push ahead with plans to quadruple the price of a half-litre bottle of vodka to over 400 roubles (EUR 10) by 2012 from less than 100 roubles (EUR 2.50) today, there will be a revolution Russia-style: everybody will be heading for their dachas, firing up illegal stills and producing moonshine.

With a rumoured backing by the Bacardi Company, Inventive Leisure launched its first Cuban-themed rum bar on April Fool’s Day. It was no joke. Inventive Leisure, which has built a chain of 64 Revolution vodka bars across the country since opening its first outlet in Manchester in 1996, is now branching out into rum because they believe that Revolucion de Cuba, as the bar is called, has the potential to see similar growth to the Revolution chain. Nevertheless, any further openings would depend on the success of the launch.

Never change a running system, that’s what computer scientists usually advise their overly eager customers. Apparently Punch Taverns, Britain’s biggest pub company with a core estate of 6,770 leased and managed pubs, thought the same – and opted for change.

… why are Bionade’s sales in decline? The lemonade for LOHAS (that’s consumers seeking a Lifestyle based On Health And Sustainability) once proved immensely popular. From its launch in 1995, when it was solely sold in health food shops, the brand grew to become the almost uncontested leader in its “better lemonades” segment. Having grown at a rate of almost 300 percent each year, Bionade sold over 200 million bottles (600,000 hl) in 2007, ranking fourth among Germany’s most popular lemonades – behind Fanta, Sprite and Sinalco. Since 2008 when turnover reached EUR 40 million, sales of the premium-priced lemonade have been in free fall: by 2010 it had dropped to about 230,000 hl, it was reported. Many wonder: what are the reasons for this decline?

Wai-wai-wait: Could it possibly be true that the most aggressive cost-cutter AB-InBev is joining the Green Panthers? Have its executives suddenly seen the light and turned environmentalists? Or have they just realised that saving on water helps them improve their bottom line? It’s a commonly held belief that companies only start caring for the environment if they can make a business case for it. And this seems to have happened at AB-InBev.

With two markets (North America and Brazil) representing about 35 percent of the global beer profit pool it came as no surprise that AB-InBev’s CEO Carlos Brito would zoom in on these during AB-InBev’s 2010 full year results presentation given on 3 March 2011. Overall, AB-InBev managed to close 2010 with full year revenue growth of 4.4 percent to USD 36.3 billion, own beer volume growth of 2.1 percent to 348 million hl, EBITDA growth of 10.6 percent to USD 13.9 billion with an EBITDA margin reaching 38.2 percent from 35.8 percent in 2009.