BrewDog abandons real living wage for employees

United Kingdom | The UK’s major craft brewer, BrewDog, has gone from anarchic to problematic, over its plan to give up paying Real Living Wages. Staff will receive the UK government's national minimum wage of GBP 11.44 (USD 14.50) an hour from 1 April – below the GBP 12 cost of living-based rate, media reported on 10 January.

Europe’s brewers in a huff: Winemakers exempted from new anti-waste rules

Belgium | As the EU debates rules to limit packaging waste, the Brewers of Europe, an industry body, complain they are being treated unfairly, if the EU makes exemptions for winemakers from reuse targets and deposit-return schemes.

Marcel Telles hands his USD 6.1 billion stake in AB-InBev to his son Max

Belgium | Brazilian billionaire investor Marcel Herrmann Telles is getting his succession – and tax – planning underway: He donated his stake in the world’s largest brewer, AB-InBev, to his son, Max Van Hoegaerden Herrmann Telles, Fortune magazine reported on 2 January.

After Brexit: UK brings back pint-sized bottles of wine and bubbly

United Kingdom | Still and sparkling wine will be sold in 200 ml, 500 ml, and 568 ml (pint) sizes in 2024, alongside existing measures, under new rules, the Department for Business and Trade announced on 27 December. It said the change was made possible by Brexit.

Western brewers’ Russia exit: a windfall for Mr Putin’s cronies

Russia | It was just a matter of time before further details of Western brewers’ departure from Russia would emerge. The fact that their misfortunes became an unexpected enrichment scheme for local elites is beyond doubt. But it still makes pundits wonder whether things would have turned out differently for Western firms if had they decided to dig in rather than leave.

Russian court permits Baltika to use Carlsberg beer labels

Russia | The St Petersburg Arbitration Court ruled in favour of Baltika, and invalidated Carlsberg’s unilateral termination of its beer licenses, the Russian news agency Interfax reported on 18 December 2023.

Russia | After nearly two years of negotiations, Turkish brewer Anadolu Efes agreed to acquire AB-InBev’s stake in their USD 1.3 billion Russian joint venture. This makes AB-InBev the last major Western brewer to officially exit the country.

United Kingdom | We have reached the time of year again when numbers appear that explain how UK beer and brewing have been doing in the past year. The UK beer writer, Tim Webb, crunched the numbers for us and here is his report.

Germany | A final vote on a bill to legalise cannabis that was initially planned for early December was called off amid concerns from leaders of the country’s Social Democratic Party (SPD). The SPD is in a coalition government with the Liberals and the Greens.

United Kingdom | What a sad end. The Ringwood Brewery, on the Hampshire-Dorset border, was put up for sale in June by owner Carlsberg Marston's (CMBC). The firm said the site needed an upgrade to be competitive, but expansion and improvements would have been “challenging and extremely costly” given the limited space and location.