Belgium’s InBev, the world’s second biggest brewer, expects high single-digit revenue growth and a slight contraction of EBITDA growth in the third quarter, the company’s statement said on October, 3.

The company also said it expected higher full year cost of sales per hectolitre, driven by inflationary pressures and commodities prices. It said the full year costs rise would be above the previously expected 5-6 percent.

The group does, however, expect to see cost improvements in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared to the fourth quarter of 2007, as commodities prices ease. InBev said, it expects that total volumes as well as its own beer volumes will increase in the low single digit percentage range, whereas year to date (August), the company has gained or maintained market share in 8 of its top 10 markets.

In addition, the brewer reported its global brands Beck’s and Stella Artois are also growing in the low single digit percentage range.

Out of more than 200 total brands, InBev said it had decided to focus on the ones with greater growth potential within each relevant consumer segment. Those include global brands Beck’s and Stella Artois and some of its multi-country and local products that together account ...More Info

Foster's Group Ltd, Australia's largest brewer, has appointed an adviser to help with a takeover defence, as speculation swirls the company may be a target, Reuters cited anonymous sources on October, 2.

According to experts, Foster's beer business, which has a 52 percent market share in a duopoly in Australia, has been valued at about AU$11 billion ($8.7 billion) by UBS, while its underperforming wine business could be worth up to AU$4 billion.

A banking source, requesting anonymity because the matter was confidential, informed that Goldman Sachs JB Were has been appointed to help Foster's with a defence strategy.

A second source added that the appointment could have been hastened by news last week that Deutsche Bank has accumulated a 5.26 percent stake in Foster's. Deutsche Bank did not reveal the identity of the shareholder in a filing to the stock exchange.

"I would be surprised if it (the mandate to Goldman Sachs) is independent of that (DB revealing the stake)," the second banker said. He declined to be identified, as he was not authorised to speak to media.

Analysts admit that Foster’s could the next player in the global consolidation of the beer industry.

"Obviously people are looking at it, but I think it becomes ...More Info

Anheuser-Busch Cos. told a European Union court it was wrongly denied rights to the Budweiser name for beer in the latest series of cases pitting the U.S. brewer against Czech rival Budejovicky Budvar NP, Bloomberg informed on October, 1.

"Budvar supplied a piecemeal of largely irrelevant documents" to prove it was using the name Budweiser in Europe, Verena von Bomhard, Anheuser-Busch's lawyer from London-based Lovells LLP, told the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg on September, 30.

As it is reported, Anheuser-Busch has been trying for 12 years to get a Budweiser trademark covering the 27-nation EU for beer and non- alcoholic malt beverages. The brewer owns the rights for Bud and Budweiser in 23 EU countries. Its efforts to get the EU-wide rights have failed in some nations due to Budvar's claims. Under EU rules, Budvar, which invoked existing rights to the name Budweiser on beer in Austria and Germany, has to prove that it made use of the name in those countries to be able to block Anheuser-Busch's EU-wide registration.

Advertisements and invoices Budvar submitted to show that it had been using the name Budweiser in Austria and Germany before Anheuser-Busch applied for the name are "irrelevant," von Bomhard said. ...More Info

As of November, 1, Carlsberg will take responsibility for the production, marketing, selling, and distribution of San Miguel beer in the UK, the Publican posted on October, 1.

Previously, San Miguel – Britain’s biggest-selling world beer brand, according to Nielsen data – had been distributed by Scottish and Newcastle. It follows Carlsberg and Heineken jointly assuming ownership of S&N’s UK brewing and pub operations, as well as the group’s businesses in a number of European markets, in March.

As it was announced in June, Spanish Group Mahou San Miguel, that licenses the brand to S&N, said it was keen to leave S&N following the British firm’s acquisition by Heineken.

San Miguel and Heineken are fierce rivals in the Spanish market’s lager category.

Now, after closing the deal with Mahou San Miguel, Carlsberg UK becomes “the market-leader in the world beer segment, currently the fastest growing beer segment in the UK on-trade,” according to the company.

Carlsberg UK has set aside a “significant” budget to support the brand, including a marketing programme that will be unveiled to customers over the coming months, the company reported.

Carlsberg head of on-trade customer marketing Dave Scott said: “We are really excited about this latest addition to the Carlsberg family. ...More Info

UBS cut its price target on SABMiller Plc to 1,200 pence from 1,230 pence, saying the brewing giant's markets, such as South Africa and Colombia, will continue to be challenging in the current financial year, Reuters reported on October, 1.

The brokerage said the two markets, together, contribute about 40 percent of the company's earnings before interest and taxes. "We continue to see more negative news in the pipeline in the near term," it added.

UBS, which said SABMiller is still facing challenges in Latin America, Africa and Asia, maintained a short-term "sell" rating and a 12-month "neutral" rating on the stock.

In July, SABMiller reported a below-forecast 1.6 percent fall in its April-June first-quarter underlying beer volumes.

Carlsberg A/S fell the most since 2003 in Copenhagen trading as Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Co. reported deepening consumer gloom in Russia, the Danish brewer's biggest market, Bloomberg posted on October, 2.

Carlsberg slid as much as 12 percent at 346.5 kroner, the most since May 2003, posting the third-biggest retreat in the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index, it is reported.

Previously, Carlsberg dropped by 6% on September, 17, following the publication of weak Russian market data for August.

The brewer, the Nordic region's largest, controls 37 percent of the market in Russia. Recent financial-market volatility that required the temporary closing of the Russian stock market has hurt local consumer confidence, Coca-Cola Hellenic said on October, 2.

“There's concern in the market that Carlsberg also will suffer on their important Russian market after Coca-Cola Hellenic's announcement,” Mads Zink, head of trading at Danske Markets in Copenhagen, said.

Western European beermakers took over Russian brewers in recent years to spur growth as their domestic markets shrank or stagnated. Carlsberg has said industry beer sales in Russia climbed 2.4 percent in 2008's first half as markets shrank in the U.K., France, and Denmark, where it is based.

Finnish brewer Olvi said in a statement it had bought a 51-per cent stake in Belarusian peer Lidskoe Pivo for about $16 million, or some €11.5 million, NewsRoom Finland reported on October, 2.

"Belarus is a natural direction for Olvi´s expansion, as Olvi plc already has brewery operations in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania," the statement added.

With a market share of 12 per cent in beer, Lidskoe is Belarussia's fourth-largest brewer.

"The trend will probably be similar to that seen in Russia: a transition from vodka toward beer and increased interest in other brewery beverages as a consequence of improved prosperity," Olvi posted.

Olvi, Finland’s third largest brewer, already has brewery operations in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Lidskoe Pivo is in private ownership. After the transaction, Olvi plc is the majority shareholder with a 51 percent holding, while the remaining 49 percent is distributed evenly among the brewery’s personnel. The acquisition price is approximately USD 16 million.

Lidskoe Pivo’s operations have been profitable every year since privatisation in 1993. The brewery’s net sales in 2007 amounted to USD 30.5 million at 70 million litres of annual production volume. Beer accounted for 43 million litres of total production, with the remaining 26 million litres ...More Info

Berwick-based Simpsons Malt, the UK’s largest independent maltster, secured a substantial funding package from a banking club co-led by Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets, Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance and Barclays Bank, nebusiness.co.uk communicated on October, 1.

The family-owned company will allocate the £27.5 mln for a massive expansion of production, it was reported.

Simpsons Malt supplies malted barley and other specialist malts to brewing, distilling and food industries in the UK and worldwide.

The funding package includes specific inventory finance for malting barley purchases and £27.5m plant and machinery finance.

Mike Stubbins, relationship director at Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets, said: “Simpsons Malt is not only a shining example of a North-Eastern family-run firm but also an outstanding and successful modern business, regionally, nationally and globally.

“The demand from the global brewing industry and for malt whisky in foreign markets such as India and the Far East indicates that production of quality malted barley is a growth industry.

“The skill of the Simpsons Malt management team, its careful investment plans, and the quality of its malts, mean that the firm has a promising future; and Lloyds TSB is proud to be right behind it with long-term support on its doorstep.”

Andy Hall, head of business development for Barclays Commercial ...More Info

According to a renewed report by the International Grains Council (IGC), world barley production in the 2008/2009 crop year is estimated at 152.8 mln tonnes, APK-Inform communicated on October, 1.

Thus, IGC’s previous forecast for world barley production was increased by 1.7 mln tonnes.

Analysts cite renewed data on barley crop in the EU and Black Sea countries as the main reason for revising the forecast upwards. Particularly, the barley production estimate for Russia and Ukraine was increased by 2.5 and 0.8 mln tonnes respectively – to 20.5 and 12.3 mln tonnes.

At the same time, Australia is expected to produce 500 thousand tonnes of barley less than it was estimated in the Council’s August forecast.

World’s ending stocks of barley will amount to 25.6 mln tonnes versus 24.3 mln tonnes forecasted in August, experts report.

After several deals at the end of last week, feed barley market registered a clear drop in prices compared to the last price lists, La Depeche published on October, 2.

As of this week, the situation is flat with a very low level of affairs, it is reported.

The malting barley market is still very irregular this week, the level of business affairs reduced and maltsters still exercising restraint. Last week’s landslide of prices is becoming more and more prominent in line with other cereals, experts state.

Brulotte Hop Farms, Washington, reports business has never been so good, as 60,000 pounds of hops a day are plucked from the fields, King 5 News communicated on October, 1.

Commenting on the best harvest ever for the enterprise, Reggie Brulotte said Brulotte Hop Farms has added about 200 acres this year as well as 200 acres last year, which has almost doubled its production.

Prices for hops bottomed out at 50 cents per pound in 2002. But a global shortage over the past two years has pushed the price to 16 times that today.

For the first time in decades many farmers are growing more hops, hiring more workers and buying more equipment.

"It means that we're gonna be able to stay in business," Reggie Brulotte said. "There's been a lot of people that, if the prices hadn't come up, probably wouldn't have been farming in the next year or two."

Washington produces a quarter of all the hops used in the world. Hops are one of the state's leading cash crops, with 60 million pounds expected to be harvested this season alone.

The hot hop market has made for higher beer prices, which are expected to stabilize now that production is ...More Info

D. M. Armitage, D. A. Cook, and D. E. Baxter

Abstract

J. Inst. Brew. 108(2), 178–186, 2002 Comparison of changes in temperature, moisture content, infestation and germination were made in six aerated 20 t bins of malting barley. Two were at about 13.5% moisture content, three at about 15.5% moisture content, and one at about 16.5% moisture content. The grain started at between 20-25°C and, during aeration, fell at a rate dependent on the moisture content, damper grain being cooler, presumably due to evaporative cooling. The ‘high’ moisture content grain was often over 5°C cooler at 1m and 2m than the ‘low’ moisture content bins. Moisture uptake at the surface was related to bulk moisture content and trends in mite population changes were related to moisture content. Mite population achieved highest numbers at the grain surface but usually before the moisture content absorption was at its peak. They were commonest in the ‘high’ moisture content bin and least numerous in the ‘low’ moisture content bins. There were no apparent differences between bins in the numbers of insects trapped, for instance they were not less numerous in the coolest ‘high’ moisture content bin. However, the trends of numbers trapped followed a similar pattern in all bins; normally O. surinamensis Load full article, 9 pages, 299 Kb, PDF file