UK: InBev wants to see beer sold in UK cafes and fast food outlets

Alcohol should be far more widely available in the UK, Steve Cahillane, InBev's UK head, said at a press briefing in London on June 13. He pointed to the Continent, where alcohol is routinely sold in cafes and through McDonalds and similar restaurants, according to The Publican.

Mr Callihane said: "It is wrong to couple the availability of alcohol with misuse of alcohol. When you look at other cultures with open access to alcohol, you do see responsible consumption. "It takes away the image of alcohol as forbidden fruit and removes the idea that you have to go out on drinking sessions."

In the on-trade, InBev has provided 50,000 training sessions through its Stella Artois excellence programme, seeing an average 8 per cent uplift in sales. "The speciality beer occasion is all about savouring, not sessioning," said Mr Callihane. "If we can drive that messge home it will help improve the image of beer."

InBev expects to overtake Coors to become the UK's second largest brewer behind Scottish & Newcastle sometime soon, helped by its recent move to take over distribution of Becks from S&N earlier than planned.

15 June, 2005