China Resources Enterprise Ltd, the the state-controlled brewer of the popular Snow beer, announced on May, 22 its unaudited quarterly financial and operational review for the three months ended 31 March 2009.

Beverage business registered a 24% rise in turnover and contributed earnings of HK$17 million, the company said.

Sales volume of beer increased by 21% to approximately 1.57 million kiloliters. The brewer’s national brand, SNOW, expanded its sales volume by 25% to about 1.34 million kiloliters, further consolidating its position as the single largest beer brand on the mainland and one of the leading brands in the world.

“Although the first quarter of a year is typically a low season for our beer operation, improvement in gross profit margin and sales volume growth helped reduce net loss considerably from HK$32 million to HK$4 million, paving solid platform for the imminent peak beer sale seasons,” the company said in an official statement.

Managing Director of the Company, Mr. Chen Lang, said, “The global financial crisis has impacted our businesses in different regions to various extent, leading to mixed performance among different divisions in the first quarter. In terms of underlying net profit, the results were stronger for beverage and supermarket businesses, though the ...More Info

Kirin Holdings Co. completed the acquisition of a 48.3% stake in San Miguel Corp.'s brewery business in the Philippines for Y79.2 billion, a process that it has been carrying out in tranches over April and May, Dow Jones reported on May, 22.

It also completed the sale of all 19.9% of the outstanding shares it held in San Miguel Corporation to Q-Tech Alliance Holdings for Y79.2 billion.

San Miguel Corp. chief financial officer Ferdinand K. Constantino said the company sold 4.48 billion shares in San Miguel Brewery at P8.84 per share.

"With the sale, San Miguel has completed the sale of its approximately 43.249 percent interest in the company to Kirin," Constantino said.

San Miguel Brewery is the largest producer of beer in the Philippines, with a total market share of approximately 93%. The company has five breweries located across the Philippines.

Kirin also has the option of a six-month period of exclusive negotiation for SMC's overseas beer business once the latter announces its intention to sell.

Coca-Cola Amatil, Australia's top soft-drink bottler, denied intentions of a merger with the nation’s largest brewer Foster's, Reuters reported on May, 22.

Instead, Chief Executive Terry Davis said the company will pursue its beer strategy through partner SABMiller.

"With our organic growth strategy in beer... we're not concerned how long it takes us to get a bigger presence in the Australian beer market. We're taking this gradually," Mr Davis said.

"We're very fortunate to partner with SABMiller.

"We're very much aligned in terms of the objectives of the two parties.

"One of those is that it is not necessary to go out and make a large acquisition just for the sake of making a large acquisition.

"We're very comfortable."

Mr Davis said CCA did not expect any takeover proposals in the short to medium term.

CCA recently rejected a takeover proposal from Lion Nathan, which itself now is being acquired by its largest shareholder, Japan's biggest drinks maker, Kirin Holdings Co.

"There is strong logic for beer and soft drink businesses to be together, but this business is not for sale," Mr Davis said.

"On the other hand, if somebody comes along with a comparable multiple to other transactions that have occurred in ...More Info

The demographic influence of the ageing population has a strong impact on the beer sector in Germany as older people tend to drink less alcohol and the middle-aged segment of traditional beer drinkers is diminishing.

According to Euromonitor research agency, growth rates in beer can only come from younger and, increasingly, female consumers. These consumer groups turn increasingly away from the traditionally tart beer consumed by their parents and grandparents, Pilsener, which accounts for over 60% of all beer volume sold in Germany, and look for different tastes elsewhere.

It is not surprising that a generation that grew up with fizzy drinks and Nutella turns to sweeter and milder tastes, industry observers maintain. Malt-based beer mixes with lemonade or orange, lemon and further exotic flavours saw a staggering growth rate of 24% over the last two years.

Other beer varieties with a milder taste, such as wheat beer and Kölsch, a dark beer variety from the Rhine region, increasingly appeal to the younger and female consumers and saw growth rates between 6% and 9%.

However, a milder taste does not always work, as the producers of the so-called “gold beers” had to find out. “Gold beers” are milder varieties of the traditional Pilsener. But, ...More Info

Colombia’s beer industry was characterised by strong advertising and promotional activities during 2008, a recent report by Euromonitor shows. Bavaria SA, the nation’s largest brewer and a subsidiary of SABMiller, has taken advantage of television advertising as well as below-the-line advertising in order to improve sales.

In Colombia, beer brands used to dominate in certain regions. For example, Pilsen is the leader in Antioquia, while Poker leads in Valle del Cauca. The change of the company’s strategy since its acquisition by SABMiller consists of segmenting the market not by region but by consumer lifestyle and consumption occasions. In this way, Pilsen is targeted at working class consumers who enjoy a beer at the end of the working day. Poker, meanwhile, is targeted at men and women of low- to middle-income segments aged 20-40, who inhabit the country’s major cities.

After the consumption boom seen in 2007, and the strong growth of beer over 2005-7, 2008 saw a lower, but still impressive volume increase of 7%. Rising interest rates, high inflation and the revaluation rate that affected thousands of families dependent on remittances from relatives, constrained consumption of most products and services, with beer no exception.

Domestic premium lager was the most dynamic niche ...More Info

In 2008, beer prices saw steep hikes in India’s key beer consuming states. Consumers’ reactions to the price hikes saw many cut back on consumption, which adversely affected sales growth, Euromonitor said in a research published earlier this year.

In December 2007, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu’s off-trade beer prices for 650ml beer bottles rose by 13% and 14% respectively due to increased state levies. Punjab meanwhile witnessed a re-emergence of trade cartelisation, with this driving up prices by as much as 20%. Prices also rose in mid-2008 in Maharashtra due to rising raw material and overhead costs. The slump in sales growth in these key beer states was reflected in a five percentage point drop in total volume growth rates between 2007 and 2008.

2008 total volume growth was one percentage point lower than the total volume CAGR (compound annual growth rate) recorded in the review period. The dynamic growth momentum seen in 2006 and 2007, with high total volume growth rates of 24% and 18% respectively, was interrupted in 2008 due to sharp price hikes. Growth also slowed due to lower consumption of beer in the peak summer season, with this linked to the early arrival of monsoons. Volume sales ...More Info

Lager continues to replace stout in importance, with 2008 volume sales of 339 million litres and 175 million litres, respectively, Euromonitor reported in a study of Ireland’s beer consumption trends earlier this year.

On-trade volume fell by 4% in 2008, which slightly exceeded the previous year’s contraction of 3%. As the price war in supermarkets begins to tone down, the off-trade sector’s volume expanded by 7% over the year, lower than the 2007 increase of 9%.

Imported premium lager showed very strong growth of 43% in volume terms in 2008, with an on-trade volume increase of 54% and an off-trade rise of 38%. The relatively large proportion of immigrants in Ireland, as well as Irish drinkers’ curiosity regarding imported beers, has caught the eye of brewers and distributors. These parties have increased distribution to both the on- and off-trade channels, bolstering volume in the subsector.

Commodity prices have increased sharply, as have fuel costs, leading to higher distribution. This led to an average unit price increase of €0.29 per litre in the on-trade in 2008. Despite rising input costs, the average unit price in the off-trade increased by only €0.02 per litre, due mainly to the price wars amongst supermarkets.

According to the Irish ...More Info

The recent increase in wheat prices has added some strength to new crop malting barley prices, but the lack of demand for both old crop malting and feed barley has resulted in fairly flat prices in those two areas, Kelly Kotowicz at the Alvarado Farmers Elevator in Alvarado, Minnesota, was quoted as saying by Farm & Ranch Guide on May, 20.

However, very little barley has been planted in northwestern Minnesota and a continued delay in planting may cut into the final production figures for the 2009 crop year, thus giving support to prices down the road, the expert claimed.

Kotowicz noted the possible reduction in bushels harvested would come from the few acres of barley being seeded and a lower yield on those acres that are seeded.

“Right now we probably have only five percent of the barley seeded, if that,” Kotowicz said. “If this weather continues for a week or so we might start to see some switch out of barley and plant soybeans instead. But if we get a couple of good drying days, the guys could be going in just a few days, except for that land that is within two miles of the river.”

Kotowicz said that toward the ...More Info

Sofie Malfliet, Koen Goiris, Guido Aerts and Luc De Cooman

Abstract:
J. Inst. Brew. 115(1), 49–63, 2009 Although currently light beers have a high market share in the US, this beer style is still not accepted on the European continent because light beers are considered watery, mainly on account of lack of mouthfeel. In this paper, the flavour quality, including flavour stability, of five commercial light beers was evaluated in comparison with their corresponding pilsner beers derived from the same breweries. Through detailed physicochemical and sensory evaluation, followed by multivariate data analysis, the fresh beers could be differentiated according to their origin (US or European) and beer style (light or pilsner). Potential flavour deficiencies of fresh light beers were determined as too much sweetness, lack of bitterness, and especially reduced fullness. As a result, the fresh light beers were less preferred than their corresponding pilsner. Upon ageing, the light beers were generally less flavour stable than their pilsner counterparts. This is mainly ascribed to increased sensory perception of cardboard and ribes staling flavours in most aged light beers. Nevertheless, based on detailed analytical/sensory investigation, it was clearly demonstrated that one of the light beers involved in this study showed enhanced flavour stability with respect to all other beers, including the pilsner beers. Key words: flavour deficiencies, flavour stability, light beer, multivariate statistical analysis. Load full article, 15 pages, 2026 Kb, PDF file