Belgium | A significant number of shares in AB-InBev's Belgian anchor holding Eugénie Patri Sébastien (EPS) was withdrawn in 2024. A generation gap between the Belgian shareholders is part of the reason for their departure. “The younger generations no longer drink alcohol. They have issues with a brewery,” explains the journalist Wolfgang Riepl in an article for the Belgian business magazine Trends (4 September). Add to their moral concerns about alcohol the brewer’s lacklustre share price and its dependence on organic growth after decades of spectacular takeovers and you can probably find more explanations for their departure.

AB-InBev investor de Mevius buys KTM sportscar firm

Austria | It must be a fun business: A group of motorsport enthusiasts, led by the Belgian industrialist family De Mevius – a major shareholder in AB-InBev – has taken over KTM Sportcar. It is a subsidiary of the motorcycle firm KTM, which produces the X-Bow sports cars. The insolvent parent company KTM was acquired by the Indian Bajaj Auto International Holdings in May.

Russian brewer AB-InBev-Efes is renamed Napitki Vmeste

Russia | The former Russian brewer AB-InBev-Efes, which a presidential decree put under external management by the unknown company GK Vmeste at the end of 2024, has changed its name to Napitki Vmeste (Russian for “Drinks Together”), the Russian news agency Tass reported on 1 September.

Lidl gives half of its Scottish beer shelf to women brewers

United Kingdom | Lidl is raising a glass to equality, launching Scotland’s first gender-balanced beer aisle. From 28th August, the retailer has given equal shelf space to Scottish craft beers brewed by women and women-owned breweries across all 112 Lidl stores in Scotland.

More than 200 UK pubs were demolished or repurposed in first half of 2025

United Kingdom | Eight pubs a week ceased trading across the UK during the first half of 2025, as the industry grapples with escalating tax and labour costs. Official government statistics show 209 pubs were either demolished or repurposed for other uses. This decline has seen the total number of pubs in England and Wales, including those vacant or available to let, fall to 38,780.

AB-InBev discontinues Belle-Vue Gueuze

Belgium | A piece of Belgian beer history is disappearing from the shelves: AB-InBev has decided to discontinue the Belle-Vue Gueuze brand. The reason is a sharp drop in demand, a spokesperson for the brewer confirmed on 25 August. In the future, only Belle-Vue Kriek will be brewed in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, a town southwest of Brussels.

BrewDog’s co-founder Martin Dickie leaves craft beer firm

United Kingdom | BrewDog’s co-founder Martin Dickie has abruptly left the Ellon-based craft brewer and pub operator, British media reported in August. He said the decision was taken for personal reasons: he now wants to spend more time with his young family.

Ireland | Only in 2022 had the Killarney Brewing & Distilling Co. expanded to become Ireland’s largest independently owned beer and whiskey producer. In July, it closed down, the latest casualty of a short-lived whisky boom.

Carlsberg gloomy on 2025 consumer sentiment

Denmark | Carlsberg missed half-year profit and volume forecasts on 14 August and warned it did not expect the consumer environment to improve during the remainder of 2025. This sent the Danish brewer's shares down almost 7 percent in early trading, Reuters reported. The latest half-year figures by the world's third-largest brewer - behind AB-InBev and Heineken - was received with similar pessimism to those of its rivals in recent weeks with investors sending shares declining.

Diageo to cut more costs as tariffs bite

United Kingdom | Profit at leading drinks firm Diageo has fallen far short of analysts’ expectations as high costs hammer the drinks giant. Net sales fell 0.1 percent to USD 20.24 billion in the 12 months to the end of June compared with a year earlier, Diageo reported on 5 August.