The TV station NBC’s decision to accept some spirits advertising may upset some viewers by opening the door to similar ads, but, potentially paradoxically, also may help quash the potentially explosive growth of "malternatives" that are so hot with younger drinkers.
The malt-beverage craze, which skyrocketed with "Smirnoff Ice", "Mike’s Hard Lemonade" and other brands, has created so much buzz and taken enough volume from light beers that traditional brewers have been considering their own products in an attempt
to recapture some volume. They’ve also spawned something of an uproar because their sweet taste has wide appeal with underage drinkers.
Smirnoff, in particular, has had an aggressive TV advertising budget..

No, it was not one of the usual suspects. It was Adolph Coors, the no 3 US brewer, who picked up Carling Brewers at the pre-Christmas sale. Coors is paying Interbrew £1.2 billion (US$1.7 bn) for its Carling Division, which is only US$500 million more than Coors’ market capitalisation currently at US$2.2 billion. The Carling business had an EBITDA of around £150 million, which valued Carling
at an EBITDA multiple of 8 - much lower than Beck’s, for example. Coors said it would finance the deal with about US$200 million in cash and a combination of bank and public debt. The price was in accordance with market expectations.
Still, analysts were not happy with Coors’ choice and its shares fell US$2.98 or 5.0% to US$56.29.
The deal gives Coors a market share of 19%..

AmBev announced in January that it had launched its fizzy Amazon berry soft drink Guarana Antarctica in Puerto Rico, the second stage in its softly-softly bid to make the brand a global player. According to an agreement signed in 1999, PepsiCo Inc would take care of distribution, whereas AmBev, the world’s fifth biggest drinks company and no 4 brewer by its own reckoning, would in turn distribute Pepsi products in Brazil. AmBev, the product of the merger of Brazil’s two biggest brewers Brahma and Anarctica, said it and Pepsi would split a planned US$1.5 million investment in the promotion of Guarana on the Caribbean island over the next two years. Guarana was available at 12,000 points of sale by September, beating the aim of 10,000 outlets by the end of the year..

AmBev, Brazil’s major brewer, said it plans to issue securities in the order of US$500 million in the foreign markets in the near future. The issue will be insured against political risk. AmBev also said that it plans to use the money to refinance short-term debts and to fund acquisitions abroad. It is believed that Argentina’s brewer Qilmes is high on AmBev’s shopping list. Quilmes has 70 per cent of Argentina’s beer market, whereas AmBev has only 16%. Together they would have a comfortable 86 per cent. Such a deal would increase AmBev’s share in the beer markets of Uruguay and Paraguay to nearly 100 per cent.

The Argentine government have defaulted on their US$ 155billion debt and abolished the dollar/peso 1/1 peg that has been in existence for most of the 1990s. The peso is now officially trading at 1.4 to the dollar and unofficially in Argentina at 1.65 to 1.8. There are no two ways about it: the Argentinian banking system is effectively bust. The economy has collapsed. The government’s ability to raise any money is limited.
According to a report by WestLB Panmure, London, there is a persistent rumour that the Argentinian government are discussing the de facto nationalisation of Repsol’s assets, the former state owned YPF, in an order to boost hard currency income.
"This will have profound implications for the brewing industry," says WelstLB in a recent report..

The authors of this article have been working in the brewery engineering sector for several decades now and are owners of many patents that have delivered energy savings in breweries. As a result of many investigations and consultancy opportunities, it has also been possible to save considerable amounts of primary energy. The following article describes possible options, and the results that could be obtained by their application. It has been written with the primary aim of stimulating the American market, but is also of value to anyone interested in saving energy in breweries.

Europe many people were amazed to learn earlier this year that the USA was in the grip of an energy crisis. It forced us to take a serious look at ways to save energy, both generally and in specific areas..

It was bound to happen at some stage. Budweiser, which has been the top-selling beer in the US, will have to clear the top spot for its low calorie rival, Bud Light. If forecasts are to be believed, domestic sales volumes for Bud Light are set to rise 7 percent this year to 39 million hl, while sales of regular Bud are heading for a fall of 2% to 38 million hl. Bud Light’s market share was estimated at 16.8 percent in 2000.

Provided the shareholders agree in April next year, the US foods, beverage and tobacco group, Philip Morris, will change its name to Atria Group Inc. The company claims that the name is derived from the Latin word "altus" meaning "high", "tall", which in this context is meant to reflect on the group’s excellent financial performance. The name is to provide the group with a new identity which does not refer to tobacco exclusively. Yet the name change should not be seen as a first step towards a breaking up of the group, a Philip Morris spokesman was quoted as saying.

Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., the world’s No. 1 brewer, reported a net income increase of 8.5 percent in the third quarter, as sales volume rose and the company was able to command higher prices despite a sluggish economy. Net income rose to $559 million from $515 million a year earlier. Earnings per share were up 62 cents from 56 cents. The company has consistently said it expects earnings per share to rise 12 percent for the year. Net sales rose 1.5 percent to $3.45 billion. Gross sales, which exclude excise taxes, rose 1.5 percent to $3.94 billion.
Sales to hotels, restaurants, and other off-trade venues declined sharply in the two weeks following the 11 September attacks, and other sales dropped slightly. The St. Revenue per barrel grew 3 percent in the quarter.6 percent, up 0.S.7.

Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. and spirits giant Bacardi USA are launching a flavoured beverage early next year to compete with "Smirnoff Ice". Anheuser-Busch, which has been pretty quiet about the product except for a brief statement announcing the alliance in October, only said that the drink will be called "Bacardi Silver" and that it is intended for consumers looking for a flavoured malt beverage. The company did not confirm whether the drink will actually be a malt-based product. Anheuser-Busch, which will produce, market and distribute Bacardi Silver, plans to divulge more details at a later date.
For Bacardi USA, a unit of privately held Bacardi Limited, the deal will likely bring even more consumer recognition to its rum, which is already the leading distilled spirits brand.S.S.S..