Italy | The Campari Group (Cinzano, Aperol, Skyy Vodka), headquartered in Milan with an annual turnover of EUR 1.8 billion (USD 2.2 billion), is one of the world’s largest spirits firms. In early November, the company became the victim of a cyber attack.

United Kingdom | Championing diversity and inclusion is good for business. In November 2020 the world’s number one drinks company Diageo published its most recent ten-year sustainability action plan.

United Kingdom | Both Camden Town’s CEO Adam Keary and founder Jasper Cuppaidge will step down from their roles, as the owner, AB-InBev, seeks to restructure the craft brewer and fully integrate it into the wider group.

Germany | With beer production declining almost 5 percent in the first ten months of 2020, some 380 breweries have asked the taxman to defer their excise payments until the end of this year.

United Kingdom | The advertisement, launched to raise awareness for the brewer’s aspiring status as a carbon-negative company, reads “F*** You CO2”, with the middle of the first word obscured by a can of the brewery’s Punk IPA beer.

Netherlands | Never let a crisis go to waste. Dutch brewing giant Heineken plans to cut personnel costs at its Amsterdam headquarters and regional country offices. An estimated one in five people are to go. Hundreds of jobs will be lost. The reorganisation is to take place in the first quarter of next year.

Belgium | Is Mr Brito doing the Donald thing? Talking to Reuters on 29 October 2020, Mr Brito dismissed a rumour about his imminent departure, saying that he expects to be leading the world’s largest brewer “for many quarters to come”.

Germany | The drinks delivery start-up flaschenpost (a pun on “message in a bottle”) was sold to the Oetker Group, a food and beverage conglomerate, for allegedly EUR 1 billion (USD 1.2 billion). The spectacularly expensive deal makes observers question the rationale behind it.

United Kingdom | Guinness is recalling cans of its non-alcoholic stout because of contamination fears, just two weeks after they were introduced, the BBC reported on 11 November 2020. Guinness 0.0 was launched to much fanfare in supermarkets on 26 October, having taken the brewer four years to develop.

United Kingdom | Trade bodies fear mass redundancies and permanent closure of venues due to the coronavirus crisis. It is believed that one in four pubs could go under, following a sector wide survey in October 2020 by trade bodies UK Hospitality, the British Institute of Innkeeping, and the British Beer & Pub Association.