Political risks in an unstable world

New perspective | As crisis-hardened Boomers continue to retire, Gen Xers are taking over brewers’ C-suites in Europe. They may bring with them a new perspective on what it means to be a corporate leader, but they have scant experience in handling political risks. In today’s world, risk is a far more complex and demanding issue than it was twenty or even ten years ago.

Latest BarthHaas Report | It is always eagerly awaited, and on 25 July 2023 the time had come again: as part of an online press conference, hop trader BarthHaas from Nuremberg presented its report 2022/2023 with the latest figures on the world hop and world beer market.

United Kingdom | Despite a high number of reported brewery closures and tough trading conditions, the total number of breweries in the UK has risen in the second quarter of 2023 according to figures recently released from the SIBA UK Brewery Tracker.

BarthHaas Report 2022/2023 | The international beer market remained in growth mode in 2022: The total output volume of the 40 biggest brewers worldwide rose by 4.3 percent to roughly 1.67 billion hectoliters. Growth was not evenly divided among all companies, however: The overall picture is dominated by rising output at the big breweries, but many regional brewers found it difficult to make up for the volume losses sustained during the pandemic.

The Super Bowl of beer ads: A lens into America’s beverage market

An American tradition | For decades, tens of millions of Americans have tuned into the National Football League’s (NFL) annual Super Bowl to see the best of the best fight it out on the field. Many of them watched simply to see the commercials, especially those by Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB-InBev) which has held exclusive beer advertising rights to the game since 1989. Over the years, AB has spent many millions of dollars to lock in the hearts and souls of the viewers with iconic, award-winning cinematic-quality ads – memorable, heart-rendering stories of American life, tear-inducing tales of the Budweiser Clydesdales, as well as funny animations with football-playing Bud Lite bottles, talking frogs, and Bud-worshipping crabs. Many of these ads had very little to do with beer, but watching them became a very American tradition. But this tradition ended in 2023 with Super Bowl LVII.

Why Western brewers are still doing business in Russia

Russia exit | After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Heineken and Carlsberg flagged they would support Western boycotts and exit the country by the end of December, while AB-InBev sought to sell its stake in the Russian joint venture to its partner, Turkish brewer Efes. But Heineken and Carlsberg had to extend their own deadlines. Finding a trustworthy Russian buyer has proven difficult, and no one knows if the Russian government will subsequently approve their deals. For the time being it is all up in the air.

Organic craft beer in the USA: Still waiting for the boom

When vision meets reality | As consumers think of organic foods, a common image they conjure up is of small, verdant farms neatly divided into fields of lush crops and surrounded by bucolic pastures with happily grazing cows that provide wholesome milk and nutrient-rich manure. Invariably, this picture  also includes hardy, salt-of-the-earth entrepreneurs, who run these operations, driven by noble ideals of respect for mother nature and the healthy nutrition of their fellow humans. Indeed, this image seems to fit much of the contemporary Zeitgeist as evidenced by the growing popularity of the Slow Food movement, local farmers’ markets, and farm-to-table restaurants. Therefore, one would think that this environment also opens up a natural market for small and independent craft brewers focusing on organic beer. The reality, however, looks entirely different; and this article investigates why this might be so.

Done deal | PMMI, The Association for Packaging & Processing Technologies, organizer of the PACK EXPO trade shows in the U.S. and Mexico, and Koelnmesse GmbH, organizer of supplier trade shows for the food and beverage industry including Anuga FoodTec in Europe, Asia and South America, are joining forces with the goal of jointly promoting and expanding their events in the packaging and processing industry.

Farewell then, Greg

The sale of Stone | Times change. People change. Trends change. Remember the howls of treason several years ago when a slew of US craft brewers sold themselves to the Big Brewers? The cognoscenti vowed to shun them, seeing their sale as a betrayal of the breweries’ local, independent roots. When Stone was acquired by Japan’s Sapporo this summer, did the commentariat call out its founder, Greg Koch, over his broken promise to “never sell”? No. It was more like “Ok. Here goes another one.” Brewery sell-outs are no longer punished, they are simply shrugged at. But the departure of Stone’s founder still proves momentous for American craft brewing. It marks the end of an era.

A classic craft brewer in an “alternative” craft beverage world

From rebel to beer style loyalist | As a new breed of finnicky millennial drinkers is entering the beer marketplace, clamoring for such beverages as hazy, juicy, fruity New England IPAs, pastry stouts with plenty of lactose and even real pastries, kombuchas and ciders, flavored hard seltzers, and even fermented teas and coffees, many of the original microbrewers are struggling with succession planning. Some have sold their enterprises for handsome sums to their erstwhile “enemies,” big Beer, while others are still plying their trade but are wondering about their continued place in the industry. Are they still relevant? BRAUWELT International joined Tod Mott, brewer/owner of the Tributary Brewing Company in Kittery, Maine and one of the erstwhile craft brew pioneers, for a conversation about the current trends in the craft beverage industry and how recent shifts in consumer preferences are affecting his business.