Emergency measures

What a PR blunder: On 27 September Carlsberg, the world’s fifth largest brewer, announced that it would close 14 of its 29 breweries in nine European countries as part of yet another cost saving plan called a “programme of excellence”. That’s a good example of contemporary business Newspeak if ever there was one. Interestingly, no details were released as to which brewery would be singled out for closure, how many jobs would have to go, or when it was all going to happen. A Carlsberg spokesperson said that the company would decide which plants to shut down during the next three years. Carlsberg’s CEO Nils Andersen was quoted as saying that a brewery in Copenhagen (which one could that possibly be?) was likely not to exist any longer in six years’ time. Danish consumers all but rioted. ....

Chainsaws and other clues

Forget crosswords - for groovy middle youth types who grew up on Hollywood fare, the Stella Artois film ads, which have been appearing in British magazines throughout July this year, have become a real craze. Three ads with allusions to 20 movies each, depict a familiar scene of the English outdoors: a park (sic), a town, a beach. Yet, these pictures are far from what they seem. They are a carefully crafted visual pun which even hardened film buffs find hard to crack. ..

Media partnership between VLB and Fachverlag Hans Carl

Brauwelt International No. 4, 2005 sees the launch of the media partnership between VLB Versuchs- und Lehranstalt für Brauerei in Berlin (Testing and Teaching Institute for Breweries in Berlin) and Fachverlag Hans Carl. This co-operation will benefit both parties.
Both partners are in tune with the times in terms of a greater emphasis on internationalisation and globalisation. Fachverlag Hans Carl pre-empted developments already 23 years ago when Brauwelt International in English was launched. Thus, the Fachverlag was the first German publisher in the beverage sector to bring out an international edition, together with a German edition. ...

Society for Hop research, Wolnzach-Hüll - World beermarket 2004

In the context of the 79th AGM of the Association for Hop Research, Chairman Georg Balk gave an overview of the world beer market. In 2004, world beer production rose by some 3 % to 1.545 billion hl. That represents a doubling since 1970 or a 10.8% increase, the equivalent of 150 million hl, since 2000. Whereas Australia/New Zealand as well as America (North, Central and South) were practically stagnant, Europe has added almost 10 %, i.e. 46 million hl, since 2000 and Asia has gone up by 86 million hl or almost 33 %. ..

Strengthening the Pepsi link

As Heineken and SABMiller have the Polish beer market well under their control, InBev has had to find itself another bedfellow. This summer InBv announced that it had entered into a partnership with PepsiAmericas, Inc. to sell and distribute Beck’s in Poland. Poland, which joined the European Union in May 2004, has a population of more than 38 million people. Obviously, the Polish beer market is an attractive one for InBev with annual beer consumption in excess of 30 million hl and a growth rate of 4 percent, according to Canadean. The beer category in Poland is expected to continue to grow with consumers increasingly trading up to higher quality premium beers. ...

Liberté, egalité, and American money

July was a bad month for French patriots - and that means basically everyone. Not only did they have to play the American anthem in Paris to celebrate Lance Armstrong’s seventh victory of Le Tour de France. They also had to let go of a French treasure, the champagne brand Taittinger, to an American investor. And to top it all off, rumours began to thicken that Groupe Danone, the world’s leading yoghurt maker, might be sold to PepsiCo - of the US as well. "Zut alors!" Was there no way to stop the Americans? There was certainly no way they could stop the U.S. real-estate investor Barry Sternlicht who agreed to pay EUR 2.1 billion for control of one of France’s more prestigious champagne brands Taittinger and Europe’s second-largest budget hotel business. ..

Midsummer merrymaking

Just as well summer came early in Finland this year. For the first six months of 2005, growth in all beverage categories was up 0.2 percent on the same period last year. Sales of beer rose by 2.9 percent during the half-year period, while sales of other beverages fell slightly. Thanks to the beautiful weather in June, sales of mineral water and long drinks also saw strong growth. By the end of June, the members of the Finnish Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry had sold a total of 2.1 million hl of beer, representing growth of 590,000 hl, or 2.9 per cent on the previous year. Sales of beer were boosted by discounts. Large supermarkets in particular tried to attract customers with beer promotions for the May Day and Midsummer celebrations. ..

Just fancy that

In July this year Finland was the first European country to introduce the breath alcohol ignition interlock device, or "alcolock" for short, a gadget that requires a repeat drink-driving offender to blow into a breath analyser to switch on a car’s ignition circuit.
For the time being, having an alcolock fitted is a voluntary option to an unconditional driving ban imposed on a drink driver. Further, those convicted of drink-driving will have to agree to an intoxicant addiction assessment programme as well as well as follow-up checks.
The costs, around EUR 150 per month, are to be incurred by the driver.
In neighbouring Sweden, it was proposed that all new cars will have to have an alcolock on board by 2012. Lorries and buses will have the alcolocks before 2012..

Not bad for a rainy summer

For the fiscal year ending 31 March 2005, Plzensky Prazdroj, a. s., the Czech unit of SABMiller, reported that revenue was up 4 percent to CZK 13.1 billion, operating profit up 14.5 percent to CZK 4.17 billion, and net profit up to CZK 2.96 billion despite the cool weather during the summer of 2004.
With a local market share touching 50 percent, Prazdroj is increasingly looking for expansion abroad. According to company news, Prazdroj sold 9.7 million hl of beer during fiscal 2005, up 200,000 hl against the previous year. Exports, up 13 percent, were 1.7 million hl of this. Accession to the EU, with the removal of border tariffs, was a help in this growth. Virtual exports - licensed production - in Slovakia, Poland, and Russia passed the one million hl mark. ...

Hammering it out

Drinks Union opened its first "Zlatá kovadlina" ("Golden Anvil") restaurant in Prague on 11 July 2005, putting its franchise pub concept into the nation’s capital, writes Lyle Frink from Prague. Featuring an anvil shaped tap, stylised chairs, and an assortment of other memorabilia from the era of the blacksmith, Drinks Union is hoping that consumers can make a connection to their past. "We wanted to emphasise that the blacksmith’s was always a centre for society in a village, and that Zlatopramen also has its traditions," said Drinks Union marketing manager Boris Rajdl.
The menu is designed to strengthen the connection between food and beer. "Beer is part of the whole food package," said Rajdl. "This is not for the lads, it’s for those want a drink in a nice environment," said Rajdl..