Vive la France

What a blow to the Grande Nation’s pride the news must have been that Australian wines were about to overtake French wines in UK supermarket sales. However, order was restored when in the first four months of this year, French winemakers increased their lead over OZ producers in British shops. French wine accounted for 23.1% of the value of still wine sales, while Australia’s market share dropped to 19.2% from 21.5% at the end of 2000.

Topvar’s beer sales up

Topvar Brewery, Slovakia’s third largest beer producer, reported sales of 604,000 hl beer in 2000, up from 588,000 hl the previous year. The brewer also sold 75,000 hl of Topvarkofa, a cola-like soft drink. Topvar Brewery is owned by its management (51%), workers (34%) and the Topolcany municipality (15%).

Efes to double capacity

Turkey’s Efes Beverages group plans to double production capacity to 3.0m hl beer at its Moscow brewery in which Efes holds 91% of the stock. The company plans to apply for a US$17m European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) loan.

Guaraná drink to hit European shore

In a surprise debut, the Brazilian soft drink brand Guaraná Antarctica had its first overseas launch in Lisbon in July 11 and not in the US as originally expected. The move is part of AmBev’s five-year plan to introduce the sparkling product in all major beverage markets. Distribution to more than 70,000 outlets will be handled by Sumolis, a Pepsi Cola bottler in Portugal.

Prize for Michael Jackson

The British beer and whisky writer Michael Jackson was honoured by the leading Beer Bars of Finland Association. He received the first Beer Ambassador award in Helsinki, Finland. This award was presented to him in recognition of his work and efforts on behalf of beer culture. The Leading Beer Bars of Finland Association was founded in 1995 and has 22 members.

Big Stella

Size matters. That’s why Belgian brewers have been bottling their beers in champagne bottles for ages. Never tardy to develop new marketing strategies, Interbrew will launch Stella Artois in a one-litre bottle later this summer. The big Stella bottle will be aimed at restaurants and selected food pubs. The wide-neck bottle will cost between £7 and £8 in restaurants and will be suitable for a group of diners to share. The Belgian brewer will also offer ice buckets for restaurant tables to keep the beer at the required temperature. According to market research by A.C. Nielsen, Stella Artois is Britain’s top selling alcoholic beverage whose retail value rose 23% to £300m in 2000, ahead of Carling whose value rose 11% to £161m..

I got news for you 2

In June, Heineken started a promotion sending mobile phone text messages to young drinkers in an effort to present the brand as contemporary, hip and cool. Pub-goers will be offered the chance to play a mastermind quiz on their mobile phones with a prize of a free pint. Only those outlets taking part in the promotion will display a special telephone number which punters have to dial to receive a text message with three knowledge questions. If they answer all three correctly they receive a text message saying that they have won a free pint of Heineken. The game will be in action from Monday to Thursday to help outlets attract business during quiet trading times.

Interbrew report reaches DTI

The Office of Fair Trading’s report on Interbrew’s £2.3bn take-over of Bass Brewers has been passed to the Department of Trade and Industry. A decision is expected some time in August.
In July the OFT listed four remedies to a situation thrown into uproar when the original ruling by the former Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Stephen Byers, that Interbrew must sell all of Bass Brewers was rejected by the High Court on the grounds that Interbrew had not been given a fair chance of stating its case.
According to speculation by the British media, the OFT favours the third remedy, by which Interbrew would keep the Bass business in Scotland and Northern Ireland and the Bass Ale brand, but sell the Carling lager brand to a third party..

Diageo plans another share buyback

The world’s largest drinks company is planning a £2.5bn share buyback next year. The timing depends on which of Diageo’s two deals under review by the US competition authorities gets clearance first. The company hopes that the sale of its Pillsbury foods business to General Mills will go through before it is cleared to spend US$5bn on Seagram’s wines and spirits business with Pernod Ricard. The US authorities have already been investigating the deal for almost a year. Diageo has a history of buying back shares.

Vertical integration under fire

Scottish&Newcastle’s chairman, Brian Stewart, again had to defend the group’s vertical integration strategy when he presented the financials for the year ended 29 April 2001. While City analysts put into doubt the financial feasibility of S&N’s strategy of integrating brewing and retailing, arguing that S&N will destroy shareholder value if it continues to retain its 1,450 pubs, Stewart said that S&N’s pub estate would deliver double-digit earnings growth over the coming year to April 2002 and that there was no reason to sell off the pub estate.
In the year ended April 2001, S&N increased turnover 22% to £4,354m, EBITDA 15% to £762m, operating profit 14% to £568m and profit before tax 5% to £428m. With the exceptionals included, S&N would have made a pre-tax loss of £272m..