The Coalition Government is expected to make an announcement on below-cost sales — VAT plus cost — before Christmas 2010.

You have to give it to ActionAid: their campaign is clever and memorable. No marketing exec with a six figure salary could have done it better. The campaign, created in-house by ActionAid’s campaigns officer Chris Jordan in conjunction with agencies Buzz and Neo, demands that the brewer behind beers such as Grolsch and Peroni stops using tax havens and tackles tax avoidance.

In Russia, WBD ranks number one in dairy (28 percent) and in baby food (26 percent) and number two in juice (22 percent). It has been listed on the New York stock exchange since 2003. With a turnover of about USD 2.5 billion, it has a market capitalisation of USD 3.4 billion.

Commenting on the global beer market, Mr Mackay said that the outlook is extremely mixed. “Emerging markets are fine although some have been hit by tax but developed markets in Europe and North America are struggling.”

The Spoetzl brewery, founded by German immigrants in Texas 101 years ago, won two medals at the European Beer Star competition. Better know as Shiner Beer, the brewery won a gold medal in the German Märzen-style category for its seasonal Oktoberfest and a silver medal for its Shiner 101 Czech-style Pilsner.

Even the good qualities in France were impaired by the small amount that was harvested.

Rising expenses for commodities including malt and barley may lead to higher prices and “significantly lower” earnings in eastern Europe, where operating profit increased 27 percent in the third quarter, Carlsberg said. The region accounts for 31 percent of the brewer’s revenue and more than half of its profits.

Although beer consumption has been affected by the global economic crisis, at a global level growth is still relatively robust. Canadean predicts an average growth rate of 2.8 percent between 2009 and 2015.

Members of Parliament agreed to ban promotions such as supermarket multi-buy deals, “buy-one-get-one-free” offers. This will come into effect in 2011, making this Christmas the last chance to take advantage of such offers.

BWI: PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC), in its recent 2010 study, paints a bleak outlook for Europe’s beer supply chain if excise taxes on beer were raised by 20 percent. How realistic is this scenario?