E-Malt.com News article: United States: SABMiller’s Pilsner Urquell on track to report rise in annual sales volume

U.S. sales of SABMiller PLC's high-end Czech beer, Pilsner Urquell, are growing as post-recession consumer preferences shift toward affordable luxury and away from volume, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week.

After losing ground in the United States in 2009, Pilsner Urquell is on track to post an annual percentage increase in sales volume in the "medium- to high-single digits," the head of Plzensky Prazdroj, SABMiller's Czech unit, said.

"To be growing exports [to the U.S.] is a very, very good thing now in this environment," said Douglas Brodman, chairman and CEO of Plzensky Prazdroj.

SABMiller did not disclose sales figures.

According to Beverage Information Group of Norwalk, Conn., Pilsner Urquell's U.S. sales fell 5.3% last year, while rival imported lager Stella Artois, made by AB InBev NV, rose 4.2% in the same period in the United States.

Overall U.S. beer sales are expected to contract by as much as 2%, according to SABMiller's forecasts. Sales of imported beer are expected to be roughly flat, while sales of draft beer will rise faster, according to Beverage Information Group's head of research, Eric Schmidt.

The Czech beer, the world's first pale lager - brewed in its Czech home town of Plzen, or Pilsen in German, since 1842 - is one of SABMiller's four global premium brands. The others are Miller Genuine Draft, Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Grolsch.


22 October, 2010