Heineken N.V. announced that it will acquire Drinks Union in the Czech Republic, in a press release, March 25. The transaction will strengthen Heineken’s number 3 position in the market, and gives the company a market share of 12% and a total domestic volume of more than 1.9 million hectolitres.

The cost of the transaction, which will be funded from existing credit facilities, has not been disclosed. The deal is expected to be earnings enhancing in 2009 and value enhancing in 2012. The proposed acquisition will be submitted to the relevant competition authorities for approval and, subject to this, is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2008.

Drinks Union owns a total of four breweries, all located in North and East Bohemia. Two of the breweries are located in Usti nad Labem, one in Louny and one in Kutna Hora. The regional market positions are complementary to Heineken’s existing positions in the Moravian and Prague regions. Drinks Union has a total production capacity of 0.9 million hectolitres and employs 523 staff. The brand portfolio consists of the national brand Zlatopramen and the regional Breznak, Louny and Dacicky brands. 2007 sales volumes totaled 900,000 hectolitres including export and the ...More Info

Catering to strong domestic and export demand for its beers in North Vietnam, Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd (APB) has expanded the production capacity of its wholly-owned brewery in Hatay, located outside Hanoi in North Vietnam, the company reported in a press release, March 26.

Hatay Brewery Limited (HBL), APB’s second brewery in Vietnam, after its South Vietnam brewery situated outside Ho Chi Minh City, was opened in 2003. Its initial capacity of 300,000 hectolitres (30 million litres) has now been increased by more than 50% to 460,000 hectolitres (46 million litres) at the cost of US$1 million. It currently brews Tiger Beer, Heineken, Anchor and Bivina.

“Vietnam is a key contributor to our financial performance in the Indochina region, which is APB’s largest profit generator, accounting for 48% and 37% of APB’s profit before interest and tax of $255 million and revenue of $1.78 billion respectively in FY2007. The expansion of HBL’s capacity is in line with our strategy to grow bigger and stronger in that market,” said Mr Koh Poh Tiong, Chief Executive Officer, APB.

APB’s operations in Indochina comprise five breweries in Vietnam, one in Cambodia and one in Laos, which was officially opened two weeks ago.

"The expansion is timely as ...More Info

Timisoreana beer, owned by Ursus Breweries, member of SAB Miller, posted volume share of 11.3 percent of the total Romanian beer market in 2007, compared to 8.8 percent year-on-year, according to an Ursus Breweries release, which quotes market research institute MEMRB data, Standard reported Mrch 24.

“Practically speaking, in just three years, the local brand produced in Romania’s first beer factory, climbed from fifth to first place on this segment,” shows the release.

“However, the most important factor for the increase in sales, in the case of Timisoreana, is the superior understanding of the consumer, which has practically led to a doubling of sales last fiscal year,” according to Harry Ioncica, Senior Brand Manager Timisoreana, Ursus Breweries.

Timisoreana is a mainstream beer, and claimed a 27.9 percent market share in 2007.

Timisoareana’s volume increased 41,8 percent, while the beer market rose 9,6 percent, according to Ursus Breweries officials.

Ursus Breweries has a 24.9 percent market share, according to market research institute MEMRB. The company owns four beer factories with over 1,500 employees.

SAB Miller is one of the largest beer producers in the world, participating in the production and distribution in over 60 countries on six continents. The group’s brands include Miller Genuine Draft, Peroni Nastro ...More Info

The UK-based Cobra Beer is looking at both the organic and inorganic mode to spawn growth in India, Sify reported March 26. Upping its ante, the global beer major said it has earmarked $80 million for its expansion which includes adding two new breweries.

“We are looking at both acquisition and greenfield projects to strengthen our presence here. Our aim is to sell 20 million cases annually by 2012 in India,” Karan Billimoria, founder-owner of Cobra Beer, told Business Line. The company currently has seven breweries in India in Goa, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. It is adding two new ones in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Bullish on India

The beer major, with a global turnover of $400 million, said India is high on its radar for all its future expansions. “India will be a very important market in the future. It is also witnessing a high growth rate. We are in talks with a brewer for acquiring a majority stake, similar to the one we has acquired in Bihar — Iceberg,” he said adding “the process will take a couple of weeks before it can be announced.”

The company is also looking to introduce some of its premium brands ...More Info

Heineken N.V. announced that it will build its new South African brewery in the Sedibeng area between Vereeniging and Alberton, south of Johannesburg, in a press release, March 26.

Commenting on the announcement, Heineken's Regional President for Africa and Middle East, Tom de Man said: “The location of the brewery was a difficult decision based on far more than just geology, geography and infrastructure. We are also very aware that southern Johannesburg is an area that will benefit enormously from new commercial investment, which will in turn assist and enable social and economic progress in the whole area. We, our partners Diageo and our local joint venture business brandhouse consider ourselves part of that process.”

As announced on 7 March 2008, Heineken and Diageo will construct and operate the brewery which will be owned 75% by Heineken and 25% by Diageo.

The Sedibeng brewery site on R59 covers 80 hectares. The brewery itself will have an initial capacity of 3 million hectolitres, with the built-in flexibility to expand. It will brew a range of Heineken and Diageo brands including Heineken and Amstel.

Work is already underway on the site and construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2009. A local Heineken ...More Info

Singapore-based Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd (APBL) will launch its flagship beer, Tiger, in India next year, DNA Money reported March 25.

The beer maker, a joint venture between beer giant Heineken and Fraser & Neave group of companies, recently launched its Baron Strong Brew brand in Delhi.

Vivek Chhabra, regional director-South Asia & group business development director, APBL told DNA Money, "We are looking to make available our Tiger in India in a phased manner in the coming year and will take the Baron brand pan-India by the end of next fiscal."

Keen to tap the beer market in India, the company is setting up breweries in different parts of the country and is strengthening its distribution network. It holds majority stake in two breweries in Hyderabad and Aurangabad and owns a brewery in Goa.

It plans to revamp the Goa brewery with an investment of Rs70 crore next fiscal, said Chhabra.

According to him, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra together account for almost 40% of beer consumption in the country, while Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Delhi, Kerala, and Uttar Pradesh account take a further 40%. As for per capita consumption, the highest recorded figures are from Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.

Currently, the ...More Info

According to Strategie Grains’ estimations, EU27 barley output in 2008 will reach 62.4 Mt, up by 4.8 Mt for the level of 2007 (including +1.3 Mt for malting barley).

Barley consumption in animal feeds is revised down by 450 kt compared with last month, but should still be sharply up on the level of 2007/2008 (+4.4 Mt at 40.9 Mt).

Strategie Grains forecasts a sharp rise in EU export availability compared with 2007/2008.

Experts estimate this year March1 grain processing/storage companies malting barley stocks 288,920 MT, up 45,682 MT (+ 18.8%) as of last year Mar 1 and down 42,357 MT (- 12.8%) against this year Feb 1, reported State Statistics Committee, according to Agro Perspectiva, March 25.

As to Agro Perspective earlier report, this year February 1 grain processing/storage companies malting barley reserves were estimated 331,277 MT.

Japan plans to buy a total of 270,000 tonnes of barley from abroad in the year to next March, the farm ministry said, according to Reuters, March 26.

A breakdown shows that the ministry is planning to buy 270,000 tonnes of barley in fiscal 2008 ending March 2009.

Of the total for this year, the ministry bought 180,000 tonnes of barley.

The ministry submitted the annual plan for approval at a Wednesday morning meeting of an advisory committee.

W. Grzebisz, K. Przygocka-Cyna
Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Agricultural University, Poznań, Poland

Abstract
The basic concept of malt barley production is to reach a dilution effect of nitrogen accumulated by grains at maturity. A three-year study was undertaken to establish time courses of nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S) in leaves as the prerequisite tool for total grain yield prognosis. Sulphur application at the lowest rate of 25 kg/ha significantly increased yields of grain in 2001 and 2003. The time course of N and S concentrations in leaves over the growing season showed declining trends for N and variable for S. At mid tillering (BBA-25) both N and S, but at BBA-31 only N concentrations significantly responded to S rates, and in turn affected patterns of N concentration in barley organs up to maturity. Sulphur concentrations and N:S ratios were useful tools to make reliable prognosis of total grain yield of barley at BBA-31 as indicated by the obtained regression equations. The threshold values for N and S in leaves in order to achieve the maximum total grain yield are 0.4% for S and 8.0 for the N:S ratio as presented by the graphical procedure.
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