It's hot in the city

An increasingly acrimonious labour dispute has been disrupting Labatt’s operations in Montreal during a crucial season marked by heat waves and festivals. The 950 workers at the Labatt plant in suburban LaSalle, who walked off the job on 16 June, are push

Big ain't always beautiful

140 jobs will be cut when Molson closes the 75-year old Ribeirao Preto brewery in an effort to eliminate overcapacity. Molson announced that, as part of the Projeto Duzentos, Cervejarias Kaiser is closing its oldest brewery. This measure will save about C

.. And the winner is

..."da Brew Man" John Hickenlooper. The founder of Denver’s Wyncoop Brewery who later turned restaurateur was elected mayor of Denver Hickenlooper winning 64 percent of the vote. He beat the city auditor and veteran politician Don Mares, who won 35 percent in the election run-off on 3 June 2003. A political newcomer who ran as an independent, Hickenlooper defeated six other candidates, many of whom had years of government experience. Commenting on his victory, Hickenlooper was quoted as saying: "It’s like having the finest glass of beer and wanting the flavour to linger forever." He promised that he would get to work on budget issues immediately. The new mayor-elect is faced with the task of balancing the budget. The city government is expecting a deficit of USD50 million in 2004..

Have a Santiago

7-Eleven, the largest chain of convenience stores in the US and one of the largest beer retailers as well, plans to bring Santiago, a private-label import from El Salvador, into its shops this summer. The beer is supposed to compete head-on with Corona Extra, the top-selling imported beer from Mexico. 7-Eleven plans to take advantage of two trends in the US beer business: the consumers’ thirst for imports and for competitively priced beers. Priced at USD5,99 for a six-pack, Santiago costs slightly more than a standard domestic brand but less than an import like Corona Extra which the convenience store chain sells at USD6.99 to USD7.99 per six-pack. The seven million people who shop at 7-Eleven each day will probably never find out that Santiago is a private label beer brand..

Too many cooks?

All those millions of people who enjoy the world’s best-selling beer, Budweiser, could they live under the misconception that they also enjoy the world’s most popular beer? Budweiser may deserve all the superlatives it claims. But that does not mean that it is a truly global beer. Or how are we supposed to understand Anheuser-Busch’s latest product launch? At the end of May this year the world’s number 1 brewer introduced Anheuser World Select, a continental pilsner beer into the market. What makes this beer an interesting marketing exercise is its spin. The Anheuser World Select campaign will focus on the brand’s unique creation, supported by the tagline of "Ten Brewmasters. Four Continents. One Beer." The beer which is 5% ABV and is bottled at Anheuser-Busch’s Baldwinsville, N.Y..

Heard it on the grapevine

If you thought, the brewing industry was abuzz with rumours about sales and takeovers, you don’t know the drinks industry. Last month the London papers reported that a US private equity house has shown more than just an interest in Allied Domecq, nicknamed the perpetual bridemaid of the spirits sector. City sources belief that the possible bidder is investment company Texas Pacific, which bought the Burger King business from Diageo in a protracted bid.
Although the news is only speculation at this stage, it makes sense. After all, Texas Pacific might need to diversify some of the operational risk associated with the Burger King fast food business by adding Allied’s fast food operations Baskin Robbins and Dunkin’ Donuts to its stables. First baby steps? Indeed..

Storm in a beer glass

Duopolies make for a happy couple and lots of unhappy bystanders. The same could be said about Canada’s beer market. With Labatt and Molson accounting for nearly 90% of all beer sales, Quebec’s microbrewers have felt for years that they are being squeezed out of the market by their big competitors.
That is why they filed a complaint with the federal Competition Bureau arguing that the big beer boys were pinching them out of the market by hogging the best shelf space in shops and signing exclusivity contracts with pubs, restaurants and clubs.
The agency however dismissed their complaint. Moreover, Labatt denied that it was doing anything wrong.
Some of the microbrewers are not sure it’s time yet to sit down and talk. They hold about 4..

Guatemala, the country of eternal spring...

Guatemala City is the site where the 4th Technical Congress of Alaface taks place. From 6th to 10th May 2003 this city will host over 300 technical managers from all the Latin-American breweries, maltings and from the allied industry. This article presents the city and the country and, last but not least, its brewing history and current activities.

Guatemala (officially the Republic of Guatemala), the northernmost of the Central American countries, attracts visitors with its natural riches and its culture, from its exquisite manual arts to the imposing ruins at Tikal and the beauty of the jungle at El Petén. The Spanish heritage is reflected in its colonial monuments and remnants of the Mayan culture still remain visible.3 %;
- Inflation: 6.
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Craft Beer Production grows 3.4%

The U.S. craft beer industry continued its production growth in 2002 with an increase of 3.4 percent, according to figures gathered by the Association of Brewers, Boulder Colorado. In 2002, the craft beer industry produced more than 6.4 million barrels of craft beer in the United States. This 3.4 percent growth from 2001 means the net volume increase for 2002 was 216,688 barrels. This is the equivalent to craft beer industry annual retail sales value for 2002 to more than $3.8 billion. The Association of Brewers reports 1409 craft breweries in the United States in 2002: 994 brewpubs, 369 microbreweries and 46 regional specialty breweries.

No partying mood

Harsh weather, excess inventory and the general sentiment seem to have had a dampening effect on beer sales in the first quarter 2003. Coors’ wholesalers entered the quarter with 200,000 barrels of excess inventory in anticipation of the Super Bowl; however, difficult winter weather in the Northeast and overall sluggishness in the U.S. beer industry negatively impacted consumer takeaway. The analysts revised their first-quarter U.S. volume shipment forecast for Coors to a decline of 1 percent to 2 percent from a previous expectation of flat volume. For Anheuser-Busch, they trimmed their volume shipment forecast to flat, down from an earlier target of 0.7 percent growth.