Germany | What can brewers do in times of “social distancing” when their bog-standard commercials and ads show people sharing a beer? Well, pull them.

United Kingdom | New times breed new ideas. Given that pubs and bars the world over have been forced to shut, Scottish brewer BrewDog has responded by moving its bar business to the internet.

Belgium | Several brewers are planning to suspend production as long as the measures against the spread of coronavirus continue, De Tijd reported on 18 March 2020.

Germany | With borders closed between Germany and its neighbouring countries since 25 March 2020, hop growers are desperately short of temporary workers from Poland and Rumania for the first of the season’s tasks.

Belgium | It was all about the debt. Felipe Dutra’s last public appearance as AB-InBev’s CFO was spent explaining the brewer’s debt. He reassured investors that “there is no year in which the total debt maturing exceeds our liquidity [of USD 16 billion].”

Russia | To secure a level playing field for all brewers, the Union of Russian Brewers, a trade body, wants to have a minimum retail price of beer introduced, but the country’s major brewers are against this.

Germany | In a response to a minor interpellation by the Green Party, the government said on 18 February 2020, that it does not see any grounds for raising the legal drinking age to 18.

Belgium | Sometimes corporate language is just meant to befuddle. Take AB-InBev’s “affordability strategy”. In 2019, it was extended to markets with tough macro-economic conditions. Its initiatives call for lower revenue per hl but offer incremental profits.

Belgium | The world’s number one brewer expects a 10 percent drop in first-quarter earnings due to the coronavirus. Already, in the last quarter 2019, its EBITDA fell 5.5 percent – on an adjusted basis. De facto, EBITDA was down 12 percent.

Belgium | You don’t often get AB-InBev’s CEO Carlos Brito sounding contrite. 2019 was a challenging year for the brewer. “Our performance was below our expectations, and we are not satisfied with the results,” he said on 27 February 2020. This year doesn’t look much better.