Cheers to Belgium: the United Nation’s cultural arm, UNESCO, in November 2016 added Belgian beer to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This accolade is more symbolic than pecuniary.

EBC Symposium 2016

From September 18th - 20th, approximately 120 attendees met in Wroclaw, Poland – known as the city of a hundred bridges and one of two cities named as a European Capital of Culture in 2016 – for the EBC Symposium “Modern Brewhouse Technologies and Wort Production”. There, they had the opportunity to examine the latest findings, research and trends from the “hot side” of the brewing process as well as to exchange information and experience with other attendees.

It’s a rumour still but it would make perfect sense. Russian media reported on 16 November 2016 that Turkey’s Anadolu Efes and AB-InBev, currently ranked second and third brewer in Russia respectively, “can join their efforts”.

Some relief. Heineken will face no sanctions after some of its products were mislabelled and sold as craft beer in a small number of pubs around Ireland, according to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, which released its finding on 21 November 2016.

Benefitting from a slight slump in AB-InBev’s share price, one of the Belgian shareholders in the brewer, Alexandre Van Damme, has bought one million shares for a total value of EUR 104.78 million (EUR 116 million), Belgian media say.

Chairman of the Maltsters’ Association of Great Britain (MAGB), Roger Woodley of Bairds Malt Ltd, described the strong performance of British maltsters in readiness for the challenges ahead with Brexit negotiations. He was speaking at the annual meeting of the MAGB to guests from organisations who work with the malting sector through the year to assure safety and quality in a functional supply chain.

On 2 November 2016 the privately-owned Haus Cramer Group, which also owns the Warsteiner brewery, reported the disposal of 12 of its Welcome hotels division to Terra Firma, a private equity firm founded by Guy Hands in 2002. No financial details were disclosed. Mostly targeting business travellers, the Welcome hotels had a turnover of EUR 60 million (USD 67 million) and were slated for a sale in 2015, insiders say.

The sudden resignation of Budweiser Budvar’s long-time General Director Jiri Bocek in early November 2016 due to ill health poses a problem to Budvar’s owner, the Czech Ministry for Agriculture. It has to quickly find a successor to Mr Bocek, 59, who has headed Budweiser Budvar for 25 years and steered it through several battles with US brewer Anheuser-Busch and later AB-InBev.

Why would AB-InBev launch one Leffe spin-off after another, roll out zero alcohol beers and buy brands like Kwak and Ginette? The answer is: to claim more space on the beer shelf for its own brands.

Leadership is also about continuity. Heineken said on 26 October 2016 that it would seek a fourth, four-year term for its CEO Jean-François van Boxmeer, who has led Heineken since 2005 and whose contract was to expire in 2017.