More and more observers appear concerned by AB-InBev’s high level of dividend payout. As they see it, this prevents the world’s biggest brewer from cutting its debt load quickly. Already, AB-InBev’s debt load has put pressure on its share price. It has already lost a fifth of its value since the beginning of the year.

The loss of Miller Genuine Draft and Staropramen might cost AB-InBev Efes about 1 percent in market share, Russian media report. Before the end of the year the licensing contract between Molson Coors and AB-InBev Efes for the two brands in Russia will come to an end.

Fearing teething problems at its new plant will impact sales, Germany’s Holsten brewery has delayed again relocating production from its current downtown Altona/Hamburg site to its new location on the outskirts.

Beware of Twitter, where a few followers can force a humiliating show of apologies. A recent offer of free beer by Scofflaw to supporters of US President Trump in the UK sparked an international kerfuffle within hours of posting.

The boss of Coopers Brewery has been appointed President of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling (IBD), the brewing and distilling industries’ largest global body. Dr Tim, as he is called, is Managing Director of the largest Australian-owned beer company, located in Adelaide.

“If three quarters of your drink is the mixer, mix with the best,” is the argument tonic water brand Fever-Tree wants you to believe. Because if you do, spending a small fortune on what is basically a soft drink by another name will not hurt you.

In the run-up to this year’s Oktoberfest (22 September – 7 October) the UK’s newspaper The Guardian reported that visitors wearing sexy Alpine outfits at the Munich beer festival have been accused of tasteless cultural appropriation.

In terms of marketing the Scottish punk brewer BrewDog is bested by none. It is the only one to date who has successfully managed to turn crowdfunding into a world-wide advertising campaign. Selling a 22 percent stake to a private equity firm for about USD 120 million in 2017 may have been triggered by financial constraints but it gave BrewDog the cash to follow Red Bull’s example and set up its own media group.

At the end of August 2018, media around the world ran headlines screaming “alcohol is bad for you” – or something to this effect. This message was based on a study published in the British medical journal The Lancet, which claims to be the definitive study on the benefits and dangers of drinking.

Analysts are sceptical: Why is the Coca-Cola Company spending USD 5.1 billion on a chain of coffee shops, a business in which Coke has no experience? The company announced on 31 August 2018 it will buy Costa Coffee, a chain of British coffee shops, from hotel-operating conglomerate Whitbread to take on Starbucks. It was reported that Coke is paying a high price of 16.4 times Costa’s profits (EBITDA).