Constellation Brands, a major wine and beer company, will acquire a glass production plant in Nava, Mexico for USD 300 million from AB-InBev, pending approval from regulators. This was reported on 2 October 2014.

If the rumoured figures are true, Dean Metropoulos, the private equity tycoon, made a killing when he sold the Pabst Brewing Company (PBC) to the Russian beverage company Oasis for USD 700 million (EUR 560 million) in cash.

get from beverages by 20 percent until 2025 by marketing smaller sizes, bottled water and diet drinks. The announcement was made at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City on 23 September 2014 and comes as the country’s three biggest soft drink makers face pressure over the role of sugary drinks in fueling obesity rates.

Growth in the consumption of carbonated packaged water in the US is expected to be much higher than the global average, finds the recently published report on "Soft Drinks Market Insights" from Canadean. The US is predicted to have one of the highest growth rates of 12% in carbonated packaged water consumption in 2014, compared to an average global growth of 1%. Data from Canadean reveals that carbonates could lose as much as five litres per person in the US in 2014 compared to 2013, whereas packaged water, both still and carbonated, is expected to gain over three litres per person. This increased demand is being driven by the steady consumer shift from carbonated soft drinks to packaged water.

A trial, conducted in Portland, OR, USA and recently reported under the title “Hide the Label, Hide the Difference?” suggested that, when tasting blind, beer drinkers were unable to distinguish between three different well-known European lager brands.

Sidel Services™ has opened a new and advanced training centre in Guadalajara, Mexico, featuring the very latest training technologies, with a virtual factory environment, augmented reality and authentic parts that trainees can handle themselves. Staffed by professional training instructors with years of beverage industry experience, who use a mix of engaging methods to educate trainees, the new centre has already welcomed representatives from beverage producers across Latin America.

On 6 August 2014 the firm reported net income of USD 291 million in its second quarter (April to June 2014), up 9.5 percent compared to the same quarter of 2013, while beer sales remained flat at 8.7 million hl year-on-year.

Corona, Modelo, Tecate, Dos Equis …: nearly 55 percent of all imported lagers in the U.S. are from Mexico. Not wanting to let this opportunity pass, AB-InBev’s U.S. unit Anheuser-Busch (A-B) will import its Mexican brand Montejo to Southwestern U.S. as of September this year, media reported in early August.

This news will make some chew their hankies. Small and independent craft brewers enjoyed continued growth in the first half of 2014, according to new mid-year data released by the Brewers Association (BA). U.S. craft beer production volume increased 18 percent during the first half of the year, while overall beer sales are estimated to have declined 0.5 percent.

You have to give it to the Americans: they were the first to have moved the regulars’ table with its low-hitting talk from the pub to the internet. Or how else to explain the recent electronic squabbling over Stone Brewery’s crowdfunding initiative?