SABMiller plc's Polish subsidiary Kompania Piwowarska SA (KP) announced on January 4th it has received approval from the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection for the acquisition of 99.96% of Browar Belgia from Palm Breweries NV.

The value of the gross assets to be acquired is approximately €65m and it is expected that the acquisition will be completed in the next few days.

Browar Belgia operates one brewery situated in Kielce, south-east Poland, and has an annual production capacity in excess of one million hectolitres. Its principal brands are Wojak, Gingers and Frater. The acquisition will expand Kompania Piwowarska's annual capacity to 16 million hectoliters.

Alan Clark, the managing director of SABMiller Europe, said: "We are delighted to have received approval for the acquisition of Browar Belgia. The Polish market and KP have recorded exceptional growth over the last ten years and additional capacity is required to capitalise on the level of consumer demand for our products in the local market.

"This acquisition will immediately deliver the required expansion capacity without having to develop a Greenfield site. It also complements our existing manufacturing footprint and brand portfolio."

KP has experienced a decade of consistent ...More Info

Anheuser-Busch, Inc., the U.S. beer subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch Cos., Inc., announced on January 07 it increased U.S. shipments to wholesalers to 104.4 million barrels in 2007 -- up 2.1 million barrels or 2 percent over 2006, it was announced today by Anheuser-Busch Cos., Inc. president and chief executive officer, August A. Busch IV.

"Anheuser-Busch achieved increased shipments in 2007 due to the success of our initiatives to broaden the company's beer portfolio, including the addition of InBev European brands," said Busch. Wholesaler sales-to-retailers grew 1.3 percent for the full year. Acquired and import brands contributed 170 basis points of growth to shipments and 160 points to wholesaler sales-to-retailers for the full year.

For the fourth quarter 2007 wholesaler sales-to-retailers were up 1.3 percent, on a selling day adjusted basis. The fourth quarter of 2007 had one more selling day than the fourth quarter of 2006. U.S. beer shipments to wholesalers increased 3.4 percent in the same timeframe. Shipments to wholesalers are not selling day adjusted. Import brands contributed 230 basis points of growth to shipments and 180 points of growth to wholesaler sales-to-retailers for the quarter. Wholesaler inventories at year-end were approximately the same as year-end 2006.

"Our expanded beer portfolio along with ...More Info

SABMiller plc, the owner of Miller Brewing Co., announced January 7 will launch its previously announced agreement to buy all outstanding shares of the Dutch brewer Grolsch on Tuesday with a public offering slated to expire Feb. 5.

Anheuser-Busch is the exclusive U.S. importer of Grolsch, which includes the entire Grolsch brand line-up, including Grolsch Amber Ale, Grolsch Light Lager and Grolsch Blonde Lager.

The companies do not anticipate a change in the existing distribution agreements for the brand in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and certain smaller markets.

On Nov. 19, 2007, London-based SABMiller agreed to buy all outstanding shares of Koninklijke Grolsch NV, of Amsterdam, for 48.25 euros per share, or 816 million euros. The offer is valued at about $1.2 billion and runs from 9 a.m. Jan. 8 to 3 p.m. Feb. 5, Amsterdam time.

The management board of Grolsch has approved the agreement and is recommending acceptance of the offer to shareholders.

In a statement issued Monday, SABMiller said it may extend the offer period by two to four weeks, if necessary.

SABMiller has said it plans to grow the Grolsch brand, most notably in Africa and Latin America, as well as in ...More Info

Danish brewing force, Royal Unibrew AS, announced on January 7th that it is considering a close-down of production at its brewery in Aarhus, Denmark, in a move to strengthen the group's future earnings following a weaker-than-expected result for the first 9 months of the year, according to Thomson Financial News.

The group said the production closure would affect some 130 employees, and added it has initiated negotiations with workers at the brewery.

A close-down would result in impairment losses of around 50 mln dkr and additional costs of 40 mln dkr, and the group's full year results for 2007 would thus be expected to reach 200-220 mln dkr, versus previous estimates for 290-310 mln dkr.

If the closure is realised in Q4 2008, there would be a modest positive impact on the group's 2009 earnings, and EBIT is expected to increase by some 20 mln dkr in 2010 onwards.

The site is expected to be sold if closed down, thus yielding proceeds of around 600-900 mln dkr.

Production at the site is expected to be moved to the group's breweries in Odense and Faxe if the closure is realised, thus generating total investments of 240 mln dkr, most significantly in 2008.

The group said further announcements ...More Info

British brewer Scottish & Newcastle, which is fighting to head off a takeover bid from Carlsberg and Heineken, said January 8 it has submitted a detailed claim to an arbitration court to secure control of Russian Baltic Beverages Holding, its 50-50 joint venture with Carlsberg, amid a bitter row with co-owner Carlsberg.

S&N said it could save nearly $200 million per year if it gained full control over BBH. The Danish-Dutch consortium is offering 750 pence per share, or $14.4 million, for the brewery — in a so-called friendly bid. The company's board has rejected the offer and has refused to engage in talks with the suitors. The UK Takeover Panel has given the consortium until Jan. 21 to either formalize its bid for S&N or pull out.

S&N said in a statement it laid the claim with the Arbitral Tribunal in Stockholm arising from what it argues were breaches by Danish group Carlsberg of the BBH Shareholders' Agreement.

John Dunsmore, the S&N Chief Executive, said: "While the consortium continues to seek to acquire S&N's unique portfolio of assets on the cheap, we are continuing to explore fully every option to deliver shareholder value. Carlsberg's desire to terminate the BBH joint ...More Info

Southeast Asian food and drinks giant San Miguel announced on January 9 that its Philippine beer unit had estimated revenue growth of nearly 8 percent in 2007 due to a growing local economy, according to Reuters.

The Manila-headquartered group expects to raise up to 25 billion pesos ($616 million) from listing its flagship domestic beer group this year.

"In 2007, unaudited volumes rose nearly 8 percent with estimated revenue growing at almost the same pace year on year," San Miguel Brewery said in a statement.

In 2006, San Miguel Brewery's revenues fell 1 percent as consumption suffered from a higher sales tax.

Last year, the unit gained from improving demand and congressional elections, which saw free beer distributed at some rallies.

San Miguel Brewery dominates the local market for beer with an estimated share of 93 percent.

Top Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings (2503.T: Quote, Profile, Research), which holds 20 percent of San Miguel, is widely expected to take up a substantial portion of the IPO.

San Miguel's A shares, which are restricted to local investors, rose 0.83 percent on Wednesday and its B stock, open to all, climbed 1.67 percent in a general market .PSI down 0.13 percent.

($1 = 40.56 pesos)

The Czech state-owned brewery Budejovicky Budvar NP, which has been fighting a long legal battle with Anheuser-Busch over the Budweiser brand, announced January 7 it boosted its annual production by 8.7 percent and had record exports again, according to Associated Press. Budvar produced 33.1 million gallons of beer in 2007, compared with 30.4 million gallons in the previous year, the company said in a statement.

Exports continued to grow to reach a record 15.5 million gallons, up 5.8 percent from 2006, also a record year, the brewer said.

Budvar exported its beer to 53 countries last year, entering new markets in South Korea, Brazil and Albania, it said.

Financial details of 2007 have not been released. In 2006, Budvar posted a net profit of 183.9 million koruna ($10.37 million).

Budvar has fought with U.S.-based beer giant Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. in a number of countries over use of the famous Budweiser brand, to which both companies claim a historical right.

Last year, the Czech government began a process that could lead to Budvar's eventual sale but it was not clear when that might happen.

Cash elevator prices for both malting and feed classes of barley remained steady or increased slightly going into the last days of 2007, The Farm & Ranch Guide posted January 5.

The main market support, according to Steven Edwardson, executive administrator of the N.D. Barley Council, is coming from the increasing prices of other commodities at this time, since every crop is competing for acres.

In material presented at the recent Prairie Grains Conference, Edwardson said the situation for barley, both feed and malting classes, looks good. Maltsters are issuing contracts in the $4.80 to $5.90 per bushel per range and local elevator feed barley contracts are being offered from $4.50 to $5.25.

As farmers have discovered while working with crop budgets for 2008, prices aren't the only positive factor for barley. Lower input costs for barley are causing more farmers to consider planting the grain crop.

Edwardson estimates that after prices for anhydrous ammonia hit $600 to $650 per ton this past fall, the prices will be even higher next spring. He feels they could possibly go as high as $650 to $700 per ton, based on the fact that natural gas prices are expected to increase eight percent in 2008.

On average, crop ...More Info

Concern that the quality of some of the remaining potential malting barley in farm stores could be deteriorating has been played down, though growers are being advised to keep a close eye on any grain yet to be delivered, Farmers Weekly Interactive posted on January 08.

With supplies of good quality malting barley tight and getting tighter, according to Gleadell's Stuart Shand, growers with unsold barley should think about selling it as soon as possible to avoid deterioration.

Last season's unusual growing conditions seemed to have affected germination, even in crops harvested in good conditions, he warned."We are getting a lot of rejections, mainly for germination."

Growers hanging on for better premiums, already high, could end up disappointed if their crops slipped below the 98% required for malting, he said.

But Glencore's Nick Oakhill believed most problems occurred earlier in grain stored warm at high moistures."Some growers never had the opportunity to cool it."

Dormancy in winter varieties did seem higher than usual, he acknowledged, perhaps reflecting the odd season. "But most of the malting crop has already gone."

Greencore Malt's Adrian Dyter anticipated that most grain left on farms was in the hands of good growers. There was some dormancy in winter barley, the first ...More Info

IVAN BOHAČENKO(1), JOSEF CHMELÍK(2) and VRATISLAV PSOTA(3) (1)Food Research Institute Prague, Prague, Czech Republic; (2)Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, Czech Republic; (3)Research Institute of Brewing and Malting, Brno, Czech Republic

Abstract
BOHAČENKO I., CHMELÍK J., PSOTA V. (2006): Determination of the contents of A- and B-starches in barley using Low Angle Laser Light Scattering. Czech J. Food Sci., 24: 11–18. A method was proposed for the determination of the contents of A- and B-starches in barley and for the use in plant breeding stations and brewing/malting laboratories. A combination was used of classical methods (incl. crushing of barley kernels by a roll crusher, steeping in 0.02M HCl, repeated rubbing and filtering through the sieve of 0.08 mm), and novel pieces of know-how (treatment with β-glucanase and cellulase, alkalisation at pH = 10.0 and centrifugation of crude starch suspension through the layer of CsCl). In this way, barley starch of high purity was obtained at a very low loss, using Low Angle Laser Light Scattering for the determination of the size distribution of starch granules. The boundary of the particle size between the peaks of A-starch and B-starch (7 μm) was evaluated from the distribution curves, while the contents of A- and B-starches were calculated from the cumulative curves. As a whole, the method was internally validated and for its repeatability and uncertainty of measurement the stimates of standard deviation s = 1.56 and confidence interval L1,2 = x ± 1.9% were established, respectively. Taking into account the generally well known difficulties associated with the extraction of substances from biological materials, in this case the separation of starch from barley kernels, we believe that the proposed method will bring satisfactory results in practice. Keywords: barley; A-starch; B-starch; starch granules; Low Angle Laser Light Scattering
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