Distribution, distribution, distribution. Ask any newcomer to a market and they will tell you that distribution remains the biggest obstacle to any business success. The privately-owned Ajegroup probably underestimated the problems it would encounter when it started brewing in Peru. Having mastered the challenges of building its first brewery ever near Lima, the family owners probably thought that selling beer in a country of 27 million people whose beer consumption has been rising significantly over the past decade would be easy. Alas, it was not to be.

Throughout 2008, a number of state attorneys general had repeatedly raised concerns about alcoholic energy drinks, particularly their marketing to young people. By September, twenty-five states and interest groups had asked MillerCoors to cancel the release of an alcohol-infused energy drink, Sparks Red.

In a separate investigation SDE will decide if AmBev’s promotion of its Puerto del Sol and Puerto del Mar brands around the same time Kaiser introduced the Sol brand in Brazil was meant to confuse consumers. Sol is one of the best selling Mexican beer brands owned by FEMSA.

In a statement, Anheuser-Busch InBev said that three-quarters of the jobs to be cut would disappear from Anheuser-Busch’s North American headquarters in St. Louis. The brewer also said it would leave 250 U.S. positions vacant and eliminate an additional 415 contractor positions. The majority of jobs cuts will occur by the end of the year, with the remainder scheduled for 2009.

It’s no secret these are challenging times in professional brewing. Only those who have the best education stand the greatest chance to benefit from the transitions in the industry. For those seeking advanced-level brewing training to move their career forward, the World Brewing Academy International Diploma Programme seems like a good idea.

Monitoring beverage storage areas can now be far easier with the new Dickson Multi-feature Digital Display Temperature & Humidity Data Loggers with both push-to-start and push-to-stop functions. Data recording is clean and easy-to-read. A temperature only version is also available.

With heartfelt sorrow, KHS announces the loss of Mark Arrant to cancer on November 11, 2008. Mark had a distinguished career with KHS, beginning June 16, 1999 as Manager – Capping Systems and working his way up through the ranks to finally being named President KHS USA, Inc. in November of 2004 and successfully leading the company through July 2007. Prior to coming to KHS, Mark worked for Alcoa for 5 years in Indianapolis as Manager – Engineering and Field Service.

Carlos Fernandez, the CEO of Mexico’s major brewer Grupo Modelo must know what he’s doing. Not only has he reiterated at a recent conference call that his company under no circumstances would sell its shares to its part-partner Anheuser-Busch, thus angering some of his shareholders with his blatant arrogance. Grupo Modelo on 16 October 2008 also has filed a notice of arbitration against Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., saying that the company’s pending sale to InBev violates their investment agreement.

Shares of Belgian brewer InBev rebounded dramatically on 23 October 2008 from steep declines after the Brazilian government pledged support for propping up the country’s currency, real.

MillerCoors LLC announced that it will discontinue the clear malt beverage Zima, introduced by Coors Brewing Co. in 1992, because of "challenging alternative segment sales and declining consumer interest."