Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, announced on February, 23 that it has entered into an agreement with an affiliate of KPS Capital Partners, LP to sell InBev USA LLC (also doing business under the name Labatt USA).

Labatt USA has been the exclusive importer in the United States of Labatt branded beer brewed by Labatt Brewing Company Limited, an indirect subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev headquartered in Canada.

KPS Capital Partners is a private equity firm with over 1.8 billion USD of committed capital.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“In addition to the acquisition of Labatt USA, the transaction includes the grant by Labatt Brewing Corporation Limited of an exclusive license to brew Labatt branded beer in the U.S. or Canada solely for sale for consumption in the U.S., to distribute, market and sell Labatt branded beer for consumption in the United States, and to use the relevant trademarks and intellectual property to do so,” the Leuven, Belgium – based brewing giant informed.

Labatt Brewing Corporation Limited is also entering into a transitional supply agreement to brew and supply Labatt branded beer to Labatt USA for up to three years after which the purchaser will be responsible for production.

This transaction is being undertaken ...More Info

Austria’s total beer consumption amounted to more than 8.6 mln litres in 2008, up 2% over 2007, the Austrian Brewers Association reported on February, 23.

Austria overtook Germany as a beer-drinking nation in 2008 and is now second only to the Czech Republic, the Association commented.

The per capita beer consumption in Austria was 109.3 litres last year. Germany fell behind as its consumption per head dropped slightly to 108 litres, while the Czechs are expected to have comfortably defended their top position.

Despite the good news for Austrian beer sellers, there are also fears that the country's thirst for suds may be quenched somewhat by the global financial crisis.

"Because of the trend in costs and the strained global economic situation, we look forward to 2009 with mixed feelings," said association chairman Markus Liebl.

Small independent craft brewers are gaining alcohol market share in the US due to a shift toward full flavour beer and increased support for local breweries, The US Brewers Association reported on February, 23.

The craft brewing industry produced over 4 million barrels of craft beer in the U.S. in 2008. From 2007 to 2008, estimated sales by craft brewers were up 5.8 percent by volume and 10.5 percent in dollars. Overall share of the beer category from craft brewers was 4.0 percent of production and 6.3 percent of retail sales. More than 1 million new barrels of beer were sold in the US in 2008, and close to half of those barrels were beer from craft brewers.

"2008 was a historic year for beer with the large brewers consolidating and imports losing share, while the top ten selling beer brands dropped in sales. At the same time, small independent craft brewers continued to gain share and attention," said Paul Gatza, Director of the Brewers Association.

With total U.S. beer being more than a $100 billion industry, the Brewers Association estimates the actual dollar sales from craft brewers in 2008 were $6.34 billion, up from $5.74 billion in 2007. Taxable barrels of ...More Info

Sales of beer in Romania went up 6.7 percent in 2008 against 2007, up to 20.7 million hectolitres, Financiarul cited the National Statistics Institute on February, 21.

According to Romanian brewers, Romania is among the only seven European countries with a production of over 20 million hectolitres and among the first six with an annual consumption of over 95 litres per capita.

Ziarul Financiar daily calculated that, at an average shelf price of 0.85 euro per litre, Romanians seem to have spent over 1.7 billion euro on beer, 8 percent more than in 2007. Beer is thus the second consumption good Romanians spend money on, after cigarettes.

"We forecast a beer market growth of 0 to 3 percent in 2009, against the background of the financial crisis and reduced consumption of beer outside the home," head of United Romanian Breweries Bereprod (URBB) Shaine Shachar said.

The Polish Grupa Zywiec brewery saw its sales revenues grow to PLN 3.8 bln (€797 mln) in 2008, from PLN 3.5 bln (€734 mln) during the previous year, Polishmarket.com reported on February, 24.

The brewer’s sales volume increased by 3.5%, it is reported. Poland’s beer market as a whole grew by 1.7% in 2008, consequently, the group has been developing more rapidly than the market, and its market share in terms of volume has increased from 33% to 33.8%.

According to Grupa Zywiec’s management, the concern is prepared for the economic downturn. The breweries are highly efficient, and the group has its own centralised distribution centre, in addition to an integrated financial and accounting centre.

The financial forecast for 2009 has not been announced.

Georgian beer magnate Gogi Topadze has rethought earlier plans to merge his Kazbegi brewery with Turkey's Efes Breweries International (EBI), The Georgian Business Week reported on February, 23.

"Until the global financial crisis ends, Kazbegi will not sell its share to Efes," Topadze announced last week. "Due to the financial crisis, the asset's market price is low but is going to rise after the situation stabilizes on the markets.”

The news that Efes planned to buy into Kazbegi became public in mid July 2008.

At that time Topadze said that higher gas, electricity and water bills were increasing the net cost of locally produced beer. While electricity, gas and water rates in Georgia remained the highest among post-Soviet states, locally produced beer became less competitive. Another reason cited by Topadze was the Ksani glass producer plant, which has a Turkish owner. The Georgian businessman said he hoped that with the new Kazbegi partnership, the Turkish supplier would keep bottle prices stable.

The deal would have left Topadze with a controlling stake in Kazbegi. He now says that his company offered a 35 point deal to Efes, but the latter turned down the offer.

Kazbegi owner does not rule out that Efes withdrew from the ...More Info

The Canadian Wheat Board released on February, 23 its first Pool Return Outlook (PRO) for the 2009/2010 crop year.

The PRO for feed barley (Pool A) is C$161 per tonne. The PRO for two-row malting barley is C$263 per tonne, and the PRO for six-row malting barley is C$243 per tonne.

The outlook for international feed barley prices remains poor as the downturn in the global economy has resulted in a decrease in feed demand, the CWB commented its Feed Barley Pool A.

World barley production is expected to decline from last year, but will still be above the long-term average.

Production in Europe and the Black Sea region is expected to be sufficient to pressure the world barley market as the new crop harvest begins. Australian production is expected to recover from the third consecutive year of below-average yields. Canadian production is expected to be lower than in 2008-09, but that will be partially offset by a drop in feed demand.

Malting barley prices are expected to be lower in 2009-10 due to increased supplies of malting barley.

Australia is expected to increase production and have a higher selection rate than in 2008-09, which is the major source of the increased supplies. This will ...More Info

Craig B. Heisner1 and Charles W. Bamforth

Abstract:
J. Inst. Brew. 114(2), 122–126, 2008 There is not a strong correlation between the amount of thioredoxin in barley and the total protein content of the grain. The level of detectable thioredoxin decreases during germination, whereas the amount of limit dextrinase increases, for the most part in a bound form. Under no circumstances could a release of limit dextrinase in an active form be demonstrated through the agency of the thioredoxin system. By contrast the thiol agent dithiothreitol, especially in the presence of calcium, did promote the activation of limit dextrinase. Of most pronounced effect, however, was the lowering of pH. Three-fold higher limit dextrinase activity was achieved when the pH was lowered to 4.0 Key words: Barley, limit dextrinase, pH, thioredoxin. Load full article, 5 pages, 562 Kb, PDF file