Are Greek bureaucrats sitting on their hands? Two years ago, the Competition Commission concluded its investigation into anti-competitive practices in the country’s beer market, yet failed to publish it, critics say. Probably after some prodding, on 2 December 2015 the watchdog eventually imposed a EUR 31.5 million (USD 33.5 million) fine on the country’s major beer producer Athenian Brewery, a Heineken subsidiary, for unfair market practices.

Shedding light on the “Beers of Tomorrow”

The Belgian brewing conference – Chair J. De Clerck was established in 1983 by the universities of Leuven (KU Leuven) and Louvain-la-Neuve (UCL) in memory of Jean De Clerck (1902-1978) and is organized every 2 years. This year’s edition was held from 6 - 8 September 2015 in the historical city of Leuven, hometown of AB InBev and proud owner of the “Oude Markt”, a town square harboring over 40 cafés in a row, often referred to as “the longest bar in the world”. It is undeniably the ideal venue for the ambitious 15th edition of the Belgian Brewing Conference. With 275 participants, this edition was sold out and by far the most well-attended to date. With 31 top-class speakers from the beer world and a plethora of degustation beers, Leuven was even more than usual the “place to beer”!

If you need proof that price promotion is a finite strategy, look no further than to Carlsberg. “Probably the best beer in the world” will need to cut its lager beer production in the UK and axe up to 100 jobs, after the supermarket chain Tesco said last month that it will stop stocking Carlsberg’s beers in all but 200 of its stores.

Just when you think things cannot get any worse, they will. Such is Murphy’s Law and Danish brewer Carlsberg was forced to acknowledge as much when on 11 November 2015 it had to announce that the situation in Russia was bad, that China was beginning to look grim too and the UK remained a headache. Given such a triple whammy, Carlsberg is to launch a global restructuring programme which will lead to the axing of 2,000 white-collar jobs. About 1,300 employees have already been notified, media say.

If you want to burn money quickly just invest in wine. This is the lesson one could draw from Diageo’s on-going attic sale. The world’s number one drinks company said on 5 November 2015 that it has sold its wine interests in Argentina to the country’s largest producer, Grupo Peñaflor. The sale includes the Navarro Correas and San Telmo wine brands along with production sites and vineyards, Diageo said.

As was widely expected, AB-InBev has reached an agreement with MolsonCoors to sell SABMiller’s 58 percent stake in the MillerCoors business to its joint venture partner for USD 12 billion. This is to ward off U.S. anti-trust opposition to its GBP 71 billion (USD 107 billion) takeover of rival SABMiller. AB-InBev already controls 46 percent of the U.S. beer market.

Wanting to be home alone, the Dutch beer giant Heineken announced on 6 November 2015 that it was buying all the outstanding shares of Jamaican brewer Desnoes & Geddes to gain 100 percent control of the company.

In case you did not know, 1 November 2015 was World Vegan Day and media took the opportunity to report that the Irish brewer Guinness is changing the way it produces its eponymous stout by eliminating fish bladders, thus making it acceptable to vegetarian and vegan consumers.

The two brewers now have until 11 November 2015 to finalise the terms of their proposed USD 104 billion transaction.

AB-InBev, which is in the process of taking over rival SABMiller, reported on 30 October 2015 a 45 percent decline in the third-quarter net profit. However, EBITDA improved, along with strong top line results and higher volume.