According to Statistics Canada, sales of domestic beer brands have fallen for five years now as imports rose by 9.7% to C$462.3 million. In 1998/1999 Canadians consumed 21 million hl of beer, up 2.0% on the previous year, increasing sales by 4.8% to C$6.5 billion. Over the same five-year period, domestic premium beers have dropped to 93% of the market from 96%, feeling the pressure from both imported brands and discount brands. The second largest volume seller among alcoholic beverages was wine at 272.5 million litres in 1998/1999; sales of spirits-based coolers increased by 7.2% to 148 million litres on a year-on-year basis.

Figures for thought

According to the Beer Institute, Washington, the US beer industry in 1997 had an economic impact of US$187 billion; it generated US$12 billion in state and local taxes; it paid US$32.8 billion in federal taxes; it provided 2.48 million jobs and paid US$59 billion in wages.

Applause

Coors Brewing Co. was named to Hispanic Magazine’s list of 100 US companies providing the most opportunities for Hispanics. In 1998 and 1999 Coors was cited by Fortune magazine as one of the best companies for Asians, Blacks and Hispanics.

The winner takes it all

The country’s major brewer Backus & Johnston SA (5.8 million hl) bought its main competitor Compania Cervecera del Sur SA (Cervesur) (1.3 million hl) by purchasing a minimum of 89% of Cervesur’s common shares, 45% of non-voting investment shares and 100% of Bottler Embotelladora Frontera SA’s common shares. This deal increases Backus, market share to almost 100%.

Will consumers know or care

Labatt Brewing Co. has won a multi-year contract to brew and package Guinness stout for the US market. Although the duration of the contract has not been determined, Labatt expects to brew about 250,000 hl Guinness stout annually at its London, Ontario, plant. The Toronto-based brewer has been producing Guinness stout for the Canadian market since 1965. Until now the US market has been served by imports from Ireland.

Big spenders

According to Competitive Media Reporting, the brewing industry’s ad budget topped US$800 million in 1999. By comparison, the soft drink industry spent US$600 million on ads.

Top-selling U.S. soft drinks 1999

U.S. consumers still like their pop sweet and brown. Beverage Digest, a trade journal which tracks the sales of 192-ounce cases, announced that the biggest gainers in the US$58 billion carbonated soft drinks industry included the brands Mountain Dew (PepsiCo), Cadbury-Schweppes’ Dr Pepper and Coca-Cola’s Sprite. Table

Beware of aquarium hoses

Draft beer may be on the decline on the US market, but still enjoys a 10% share of the beer market. Apparently there are no standards for the dispense of beer, so the Draft Beer Guild was founded in January 1999 as a response to the declining quality and sales of draft beer. The members of the guild have developed a model for Cleaning Standards which has already undergone one preliminary draft proposal in December. The Draft Beer Guild can be contacted at draftbeerguild@uswest. net.

Promises

Coca-Cola’s top management promised that the company would again deliver robust earnings growth of 15% in the long term after two years of stalled earnings, management shake-ups and the lay-off of 5,200 employees earlier this year. With a first quarter expected volume growth of 3%, the volume growth for 2000 should wind up in the 5% to 6% range, Gary Fayard, Coca-Cola’s chief financial officer has been quoted saying. But the financial markets are still waiting to see if Coca-Cola can return to its phenomenal record of earnings growth of 15% to 20%.

Higher prices, yes thank you

Anheuser-Busch Co., reported a 9.8% rise in first quarter net income and predicted similar results for the rest of the year, benefiting from a strong volume increase and beer price hikes. The St. Louis brewer announced net income of US$ 350.3 million compared with US$319.1 million in the year-earlier period. Revenue rose 4.7% to US$2.81 billion from US$2.69 billion. The results were helped by a 2.2% rise in domestic beer volume to 23.7 million barrels despite a price increase in February. International volume rose 15% to 1.5 million barrels due to gains in China and Britain.