Independent Brewers of Europe: a new voice for beer culture

Austria | Europe's independent breweries are rising up against the Big Brewers’ market power. They seek to counter the trend towards standardised flavours with a conscious commitment to diversity and regional brewing culture, Austrian media reported on 19 September.

Campari expands further into Scotch whisky

Italy | Campari Group is banking on growth in whisky. The Italian drinks group said on 17 September, that it bought a 14.6 percent minority stake in single malt whiskies Bunnahabhain, Deanston, Tobermory and Ledaig, as well as blended whiskies Scottish Leader and Black Bottle from South Africa’s Capevin Holdings (CVH) for GBP 69.6 million (USD 92 million). It also gets a seat on the board.

UK Competition Watchdog to investigate Carlsberg’s Britvic deal

United Kingdom | The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has called for public comments on Carlsberg’s proposed GBP 3.3 billion (USD 4.2 billion) acquisition of soft drinks company Britvic. The regulator is seeking insights into whether the takeover could lead to a “substantial lessening of competition” within the UK market, media reported on 11 September.

Carlsberg to build soft drink plant in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan | Carlsberg is set to invest over USD 110 million in a new production facility for non-alcoholic beverages in Kazakhstan, the Russian news agency Interfax reported on 11 September.

Despite Heineken UK’s biggest price hikes, profit fell in 2023

United Kingdom | Heineken’s biggest-ever price rises in the UK failed to stop its profit being slashed during 2023, as it battled “economic volatility” and cozzy livs (a newish slang word for cost-of-living crisis).

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.