United Kingdom | The Premier League club Arsenal FC inked a partnership with Athletic Brewing Company, America’s largest non-alcoholic brewery, which was founded in 2017. As part of the deal, the brand has been named Arsenal’s first official non-alcoholic beer partner, media reported on 7 August. The sponsorship deal will help Athletic expand its international footprint.

Fourpure closes London taproom and moves production to Yorkshire

United Kingdom | The London craft brewer Fourpure, which has been based in the railway arches of the Bermondsey Beer Mile since 2013, is to close its brewery and taproom and move production up to Yorkshire in mid-September.

Italy’s beer market loses froth

Italy | Given Italy’s cost of living crisis, 2023 was a bad year for the country’s brewers. 2024 may continue the downward trend in sales and consumption, exacerbated by adverse weather.

Where are they now: Leonardo di Vincenzo, from grain to grapes

Italy | No one has quite shaped the Italian craft brewing industry like Leonardo di Vincenzo. Although craft brewing already took off in the late 1990s, there were only some 100 microbreweries in 2005 (today nearly 1000), when he founded Birra del Borgo, a craft brewery in the mountainous village of Borgorose, 100 km to the east of Rome, where his family originally came from.

Denmark | The loss of the San Miguel licence in the UK to AB-InBev at the end of this year will hit Carlsberg hard. They brand had annual sales of 1.8 million hl and revenues of DKK 1.4 billion (USD 208 million). In actual fact, the San Miguel brand represented more than 50 percent of Carlsberg’s volume sales. Media put Carlsberg’s market share in the UK at 7 percent. With UK beer sales amounting to 45 million hl in 2023, Carlsberg sold some 3.1 million hl.

Khetan exits Carlsberg joint venture for USD 744 million

Denmark | For years, Carlsberg has been at loggerheads with its Nepal/Singapore-based joint venture partner Khetan. There were boardroom brawls amid concerns from its auditor over financial irregularities, including incorrect payments, embezzlement and kickbacks from customers.

Russia blocks sale of AB-InBev stake in joint venture to Efes

Russia | The government commission for the control of foreign investments unexpectedly refused to allow Efes Breweries International to purchase AB-InBev’s stake in their joint venture, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported on 6 August.

Russia’s beer sales rise 5 percent in the first half of 2024

Russia | In the first six months of this year, Russian beer sales by value increased by almost 13 percent over the same period last year, according to the Russian newspaper Kommersant on 6 August. Measured in volume, demand went up by almost 5 percent to 45 million hl. Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink. With an alcohol content ranging between 0.5 percent and 8.6 percent, beer now accounts for 83 percent of all alcohol sales.

Czech beer market: Certainly not the best of years, but…

Czech Republic | The Czech vision of a pub-based social society is facing the reality of change. The biggest losers in this transition are pubs and restaurants off the beaten track as Czechs drink less beer and drink more of it at home.

Belgium | AB-InBev reported that volume sales in the second quarter fell 0.8 percent, compared with the same quarter last year. They were dragged down by weaker demand in China and the continuing fallout from a boycott of its Bud Light brand in the United States.