Belgium – Last year, exports of Belgian beer to the US, its third most important market, declined 12 percent. Exports to the UK were down 33 percent. Will Belgian brewers need to worry that competition from local craft brewers will eat into a profitable part of their business?

Germany – The Munich brewer Hacker-Pschorr probably thought it a great marketing ploy to organise a quirky sightseeing tour, which would take punters to various Munich crime scenes, including the Olympic Centre, where in 1972 a Palestinian terrorist attack led to the murder of eleven Israeli athletes and a local policeman.

United Kingdom – Don’t be fooled by BrewDog’s public image: The Scottish punk brewer is run like a very tight ship. While founders Martin Dickie and James Watt grab the headlines with their publicity stunts, former drinks industry figures control the corporate organisation.

The Netherlands – Dutch market leader Heineken has acquired a minority stake in the craft brewer Oedipus, the two companies announced on 4 June 2019. Specific details about the deal were not disclosed.

Norway | Pursuing more ethical investments, the country’s largest pension fund, KLP will divest from companies that generate revenues from alcohol and gambling, a further push by KLP to drop so-called “sin stocks” from its portfolio. This was reported by The Financial Times on 28 May 2019.

United Kingdom | A Twitter spat has chipped away at BrewDog’s holier-than-thou image. After BrewDog launched its non-alcoholic beer, Punk AF, in early May 2019, Alex Myers of the London marketing firm Manifest took to Twitter and accused BrewDog of cribbing their idea.

United Kingdom | Embattled Indian drinks tycoon Vijay Mallya has lost a court case against Diageo. He was ordered to pay USD 135 million within 28 days by the High Court on 24 May 2019. 

Austria | After a tumultuous week, which saw the country’s conservative-nationalist coalition government collapse on 18 May and the Chancellor Sebastian Kurz ousted on 27 May over the so-called “Ibiza scandal”, the energy drink Red Bull is ironically emerging as a winner.

Belgium | A sweet deal between AB-InBev and the Belgian government has fallen foul with the country’s tax man. For five years, between 2011 and 2015, AB InBev only paid EUR 11.2 million (USD 12.6 million) in taxes on a profit of more than EUR 280 million in Belgium.

Belgium | Some pundits were quick to interpret AB-InBev’s EUR 200 million fine by the European Commission as a shot against manufacturers, who use their strong market positions to unfairly command higher prices in some EU countries as opposed to others.