Looks like the recent industry consolidation is taken its toll on members’organisations too. Does anybody still do any research at former Anheuser Busch’s headquarters in St Louis? As far as we are aware the 100-odd jobs research department does not exist any longer.

This year’s keynote speakers are Tom Long, President and Chief Commercial Officer, MillerCoors, Deryck van Rensburg, President, Venturing & Emerging Brands, Coca-Cola North America, David A. Peacock, President and CEO, Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. and Luis Duran, Vice President of International Markets, FEMSA – CCM.

The Essential Track, says the Siebel Institute, covers issues like yeast propagation and maintenance, staining and identification of microorganisms, plating and aseptic handling techniques, and the full range of industry-standard lab QC/QA practices.

On 21 March Coca-Cola Femsa agreed to hand over a parking lot, that was used as a distribution centre, to the Venezuelan government, two weeks after President Chavez demanded the company relinquish the space.

The craft brewing industry has been good business for Oregon. This entrepreneurial industry of about 90 breweries – which is built on uniquely Oregon advantages such as agriculture, people, and lifestyle – contributes USD 375 million to the Oregon economy every year. It does this without receiving state tax breaks or subsidies, while continuing to pay tens of millions of dollars in existing excise taxes.

Volume in North America was down 3 percent, while international unit case volume rose 6 percent. Carbonated soft-drink volume was up 2 percent, while still-beverage unit case volume rose 11 percent.

However, PepsiCo itself may need an energy boost after reporting on 13 February that its fourth-quarter net income was USD 719 million, or 46 cents a share, down 43 percent from USD 1.26 billion, or 77 cents a share, a year earlier.

MillerCoors agreed in December last year to stop producing and selling caffeinated-alcoholic drinks under a settlement with more than a dozen state attorneys general. The Sparks agreement – in which MillerCoors promised to remove caffeine, taurine, guarana and ginseng from the drink – was a blow to MillerCoors because Sparks had become the dominant product in the category.

S&P said there are 75 potential "fallen angels" globally with rated debt of USD 174.47 billion – equivalent to the GDP of the Philippines.

The use of malt by US brewers slowly declined over the last 20 years, reaching a low of just over 128 million bushels in 2005 according the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. The increasing production of low calorie beers was largely responsible for this decline. But the good news is that the amount of malting barley used for brewing began to increase in 2006 and 2007, and the trend appears to have continued in 2008.