The Danish almost talk about a record in yield with an average value of 6 t/ ha and good qualities. There have been no problems with diseases, protein or screening. Sometimes there has even been the talk of protein values that were too low.

drinktec confirmed its reputation as the world “summit” for the beverage and liquid food industry – in this exhibitors and visitors alike were agreed. Volker Kronseder, Chairman of Krones AG and President of the Advisory Board of drinktec 2009, described how he saw the mood in the halls: “People are no longer paralysed with shock, life is coming back into the sector.”

Scientists are predicting that life expectancy among Russian men will continue to fall over the next four decades, possibly to below 50 years from birth. If these projections are correct, they mean that any demographic gains for the country from declines in infant mortality and from any increase in the birth rate will be more than wiped out, with all the economic, political and military consequences that entails.

The Heineken Brewery in St Petersburg, the former Bravo Brewery which was originally set up by Icelandic investors and bought by Heineken in 2002, is the largest and most modern brewery Heineken owns in Russia. It has a capacity of over 5 million hl, the brewer says. So it would make sense to concentrate beer production in St Petersburg there.

The proposals from the Scottish government set out to use public money to protect 900 workers, whose jobs are under threat from Diageo’s planned restructuring.

If Blackstone and Lion Capital manage to clinch a deal with Japan’s Suntory, they will be crying all the way to the bank. Who would have thought that they would be so lucky to find a buyer willing to take a company off their hands in the middle of an economic crisis? Blackstone and Lion Capital paid USD 2.6 billion for Cadbury-Schweppes’ European beverages division (“Orangina”), which in 2005 was the number three player in the European soft drink market with 2500 employees, a sales volumes of 1.8 billion litres and a turnover of almost EUR 960 million.

We have seen a malting plant in a container in South Africa. We have heard of a hotel built of dozens of these containers stacked high. So why not have a bottling plant in one of them? On the back of a lorry these containers can be taken almost anywhere. That’s what their manufacturer, Plast Engineering Knauff, must have thought.

Punch Taverns, which has over 8,300 managed, tenanted and leased pubs, is planning a GBP 45 million overhaul of Spirit, its managed pubs arm, home to restaurant brands including Chef & Brewer, in its quest to raise funds and reduce its GBP 3.5 billion debt pile.

Radeberger Group, Germany’s number one brewing and beverage group, seems to be a case in point. In sync with Germany’s declining GDP, the brewer reported a drop in beer sales of 5.7 percent during the first half of 2009.

Use the opportunity and get your personal copy of “Handbook of Brewing“!