According to latest figures released by beer market specialists Plato Logic, the beer market in West Europe fell by 2.5 percent in 2009. Ian Pressnell, Director of Plato Logic, commented: “Nearly all markets were lower in what was clearly a difficult year, with volumes in the on-trade channel falling by around 6 percent.” Plato Logic also found that the premium beer market declined by more than 3 percent.

Isomaltulose: A new, non-fermentable sugar in beer and beer specialties

Isomaltulose (Palatinose™) is a sugar naturally occurring in honey and sugar cane molasses that has become growingly popular as functional carbohydrate for beverage products after its introduction in 2005. It exhibits a number of specific characteristics that make it very suitable for use in human nutrition thus offering great potential for innovative sport- and energy drink concepts as well as functional alcohol-free malt-based beverages with balanced and sustained energy-release profile. Extensive screening tests demonstrated that many common brewing yeasts are unable to ferment isomaltulose which resulted in a positive influence on the mouth-feel of alcohol-reduced and alcohol-free beers that typically lack body.

Developments in the international and national beer market in 2008

In 2008, more than 1.8 billion hl of beer were brewed worldwide, almost 30 million more than in 2007. China is the uncontested no. 1, with more than 410 million hl. Germany takes 5th place, after the USA, Russia and Brazil. This information is based on data from the Barth Hop Market Report 2008/2009, published by the Barth-Haas Group (table 1). The market share of the Top 40 countries was 92.5 percent in 2008 (2007: 85.6 percent). This article provides details on the world beer market.

The Mission

“This is the end, beautiful friend, […] the end of everything that stands”, sang Jim Morrison. Perhaps this is not quite the end of everything that stands in the brewing industry, but the final act of the industry’s Great Game has begun. With AB-InBev controlling about a quarter of the world’s beer production, bookies will soon be taking bets on how many deals the Brazilian management will have to clinch before they can close the door behind themselves: Will it be one? Two? And what will the “bankers who sell beer” chiefly be remembered for? Their merciless cost-cutting drive? Or their counter-colonialist strive which has shown little regard for the complexities of mature markets and for brewers’ corporate cultures in Europe and North America?

A commendable handbook: Il Manuale del Birraio Pratico

Il Manuale del Birraio Pratico, 1st edition 2010,

The Brewers Association, the trade association that tabulates production statistics for US breweries, released 2009 data on the U.S. craft brewing industry last month. In a year when other brewers saw a slowdown in sales, small and independent craft brewers saw sales increase 10.3 percent and volume increase 7.2 percent over 2008, representing a growth of 613,992 barrels equal to roughly 8.5 million cases.

European beer brands Heineken, Amstel and Stella Artois have all dropped down the list of the world’s most valuable beer brands at the expense of Budweiser, Corona and Foster’s, according to the annual BrandFinance® Global 500 survey of the world’s 500 most valuable brands published this week by Brand Finance plc, one of the world’s leading brand valuation consultancies.

Searching BRAUWELT 101

Archives are usually associated with times long passed, preserved beneath thick layers of dust. That does not apply to BRAUWELT: The online archives are regularly being updated and present an extensive documentation of the entire brewing- and beverage industry. The numerous articles on display transmit profound information – provided that you know how to search for them. But do not panic: this is exactly why this article has been written.

Asahi said its domestic beer sales during 2009 came to 177.0 million cases, down 2.5 percent year-on-year, while Kirin’s annual beer sales amounted to 176.8 million cases, down 1.9 percent. One case is equivalent to 12.66 litres of beer.

Global functional drink sales increased by 3 percent in 2008 to 26.5 billion litres, 8 billion litres more than in 2003, according to the latest report from food and drink consultancy Zenith International. Average growth over the past five years has been 8 percent a year.