The Siebel Institute, in conjunction with the Ethanol Technology Institute, is currently putting together a course in beverage distillation.

Royal Unibrew (selling under the brands Faxe and Ceres) said on 12 August that it agreed to sell its three Caribbean breweries to the Dominican brewery CND for a total consideration of USD 31 million.

In a statement, Mr Blaustein said: "This is not a decision that I made overnight. Given my own career aspirations and a different view of how to build our business/portfolio in the current economic climate, I thought it best that we part ways. Heineken USA has a passionate and talented team that will continue to bring success to the business, and I am personally looking forward to starting a new stage in my career."

The notice of arbitration stated that the transaction between Anheuser-Busch and InBev violated provisions of a 1993 agreement through which Anheuser-Busch took a major stake in Grupo Modelo.

Readers, should you ever need reassuring that you did the right thing when you joined the brewing industry – read this book. It’s called “Shine on. 100 years of history, legends, half-truths and tall tales about Texas’ most beloved little brewery” by Mike Renfro. Price: USD 23.99.

Just as well the management guru, the late Peter Drucker, never publicly cast a verdict on the brewing industry’s managers. He would have found compelling grounds for a less than flattering assessment. Spurred by InBev’s Brazilian managers and their cost-cutting mantra, brewers the world over have re-written their management books. Their First Commandments now read unisono: “cut cost”.

Ball Corporation is a supplier of high-quality metal and plastic packaging for beverage, food and household products customers, and of aerospace and other technologies and services, primarily for the U.S. government. Ball employs more than 14,000 people worldwide and reported 2008 sales of approximately USD 7.6 billion.

Ask any Joe Six-Pack what he buys at Walgreens’ and he will probably reply: “Shampoo, err some chewing gum, and after a hard night’ s drinking a packet of Aspirin.”

Colombia is a market with an enormous growth potential. Especially sales of water and juices have been growing three to four times faster than sales of carbonated beverages in Latin America, it was reported.

In theory, at least, currency hedging helps companies control risks in a volatile global economy. The Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo with a dollar-based income from its export sales to the U.S. would have been concerned that a weaker dollar will depress its revenue. Hence, it would have been eager to hedge. Nevertheless, hedging is a high-risk investment – as Grupo Modelo has just found out.