Despite good results at the beginning of the year, the final beer production growth figure was a mere 1.6% in 2008, according to the Barth Report published on July, 15.

In the preceding five years (2003 to 2007), average growth had amounted to 4.8 %.

World beer output has risen by an average of 2.5 % per year in the last 30 years. In the years 2004 to 2007 above-average growth rates of 4.9 %, 3.2%, 5.9% and 5.4% were achieved. The year 2008 closed with an increase of 1.6%, or 28.5 mln hl, to 1.82 bln hl.

Comparing the year 2008 with 2007, of the world’s 169 beer-producing countries 83 recorded an increase in production and 26 countries reported an unchanged level of output, while output fell in the remaining 60 countries.

China is not only the world’s biggest beer producer, but also recorded the world’s biggest growth in output in 2008, with an increase of 17.2 mln hl (to 410.3 mln hl). It was followed by Brazil, with 10.3 mln hl, now ranked fourth among the leading beer nations, behind the USA and Russia.

Europe saw its output decrease by 5.7 mln hl, which was mainly a consequence of the decline in ...More Info

Kirin Holdings Company, Limited confirmed on July, 14 that it is currently at an initial stage of business merger discussions with Suntory Holdings Limited.

Nothing has been resolved or reached an agreement at this stage, Kirin said.

First reports of a merger between Japan’s No.1 and No. 3 brewers respectively appeared earlier this week.

Kirin and privately held Suntory have posted relatively strong earnings in recent years in spite of the sluggishness of the domestic beer and beverage market, which has been hurt by a shrinking population and a weak economy. But the two companies have pushed hard to increase their overseas presence in the face of a gloomy Japanese outlook, making various foreign acquisitions recently, and analysts say a merger could give them more funds in their future international merger-and-acquisition efforts.

Both companies have been busy increasing their international businesses.

Kirin, which holds a 46% stake in Australia's Lion Nathan Ltd. and 48% of the Philippines' San Miguel Brewery Inc., is stepping up efforts to increase its presence in Asia and the South Pacific. It aims to generate about 30% of its revenue outside of Japan by 2015.

Suntory, which bottles and distributes PepsiCo Inc. products in Japan, has already established a presence in ...More Info

Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd expects its net profit for the first half of 2009 to increase by 60-70 percent year-on-year, Reuters reported on July, 14.

The brewer said efforts to strengthen its plant management and lower costs had helped boost its earnings and sales, giving no further details.

"The earnings growth was driven by the volume growth in beer sales, a better product mix and a decline in raw material costs," Bank of China International analyst Zhao Zongjun wrote in a report.

Zhao said Tsingtao's beer sales were robust in the first six months, and the company benefited from a drop in raw material costs in the second quarter. The cost decline boosted gross margins and market share, Zhao said.

The company posted a profit of 381.13 million yuan ($55.78 million) in the first six months of last year according to Chinese accounting standards.

(US$1=HK$7.8=6.832 yuan)

Turkish brewer Anadolu Efes announced on July, 14 its sales volume figures for the six months period ended 30.06.2009.

Total beer sales volume amounted to 11.3 mln hl, down 1.9% as compared to the first half of 2008, Anadolu Efes said.

In H1 2009, sales volume of the company’s Turkey beer operations reached 4.5 mln hl, recording 2.3% growth over the same period of the previous year. Domestic sales volume growth was also 2.3% in H1 2009 year-on-year.

Volume growth in the second quarter was 1.2%, despite the very strong base of previous year, when beer sales volume grew by 10.3% year on year. Despite the macro economic challenges, as well as higher prices due to excise tax increase, the positive growth rate was achieved through the dynamic performance of the brewer’s initiatives towards further development of on- and off-premise outlets and effective marketing activities.

In line with Anadolu Efes’ strategy to grow the Turkey beer market by satisfying the consumer needs, “Gusta Dark”, a high alcoholic version of the company’s wheat beer “Gusta” was introduced to the market in May 2009. “Gusta Dark” is the first dark wheat beer in Turkey.

The international beer operations of Anadolu Efes are conducted by Efes Breweries International ...More Info

China Resources Enterprise Ltd. said on July, 15 that its brewery unit will buy the remaining shares it doesn't own in a Shenyang-based brewery for CNY48 million to consolidate its production facilities, Dow Jones reported on the same day.

The blue-chip conglomerate said in a statement China Resources Snow Breweries (China) Investment Co. will buy a 20% stake in Shenyang Huarunchuangye Beer Co., which it will pay for in cash.

Upon completion of the transaction, China Resources will fully own the beer company via its unit.

Shenyang Brewery, which sells and produces beer under the CR Snow brand, has an annual production capacity of 120,000 kiloliters. Its sales of beer fell to 117,000 kiloliters in 2008 from 135,000 kiloliters in 2007.

Completion of the deal is subject to approval from mainland regulatory authorities, the firm said.

San Miguel Brewery Inc. (SMB), the brewery unit of San Miguel Corporation (SMC), announced on July, 15 that its first semester 2009 net sales revenue rose 4.2% year on year to P24.8 billion.

SMB sales volumes reached 86.0 million cases.

Operating income amounted to P7.6 billion in the first semester, a 6% increase from of the previous year, while net income after tax grew by 4% to P4.86 billion for the semester. Earnings growth was driven by continued cost management efforts and more stable raw material prices.

The SMB Inc. Board of Directors approved cash dividends of P0.11 centavos per share to all shareholders of record as of July 28, 2009 payable on August 10, 2009.

San Miguel Brewery Inc. held its first-ever stockholders meeting on July, 15. Earlier this year, the brewery completed a record-breaking P38.8 billion bond offering—the largest ever debt offering by a corporate issuer in the Philippines. Proceeds from the bond offering were used to purchase the domestic beer brands and brewery land assets from San Miguel Corporation.

San Miguel Corporation currently holds 51% of San Miguel Brewery after selling 43.3% to partner Kirin Holdings of Japan for almost P59 billion.

Kirin has had a long partnership with SMC, but ...More Info

Efes Breweries International N.V. (EBI) announced on July, 13 its sales volume figures for the six month period ended 30.06.2009.

In the first half of 2009, the Netherlands-based subsidiary of the Turkish Anadolu Efes registered a consolidated sales volume of 6.7 mln hl, indicating a decline of 4.6% compared to the same period in 2008.

Organic sales volume (excluding 1) January – February 2009 sales volume of JSC Lomisi in Georgia, which EBI acquired in February 2008 and started full consolidation starting from March 1st 2008, 2) the sales volume of Efes Serbia, which is excluded from EBI’s financials after the end of H1 2008) declined by 2.8% in the period.

Second quarter sales volume was down by 4.8% (6.7 mln hl) compared to a year ago due to the continued effects of a sharp economic slowdown in the region combined with the strong base of last year, when sales volume was up by 10.7%.

In Russia, H1 2009 sales volume was 5.3 mln hl, indicating a decline of 5.3% over the same period of the previous year. The downward trend in the Russian beer market, resulting from the deteriorating consumer demand as a result of the global financial crisis, continued in the second ...More Info

Statistics Canada’s (STC) June seeded area survey indicates that for 2009-10 Canadian farmers have reduced the areas seeded to barley, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada reported on July, 10.

For 2009-10, barley seeded area decreased slightly to 3.6 mln ha, the lowest level since 1967, with a sharper decline expected for harvested area (3.1 mln ha) as more farmers than usual graze or cut their crops for green feed.

Production is expected to fall by about 25% to 8.8 mln metric tons as dry growing conditions cut yields. Total supply is forecast to fall by 19% to 10.9 mln metric tons. Domestic feed use is projected to decrease while exports remain unchanged at 2.3 mln.

Carry-out stocks are forecast to fall by 29% to 1.5 mln metric tons. The off-board price for barley is forecast to remain steady while the PRO for malting barley (Sel CW 2-Row) is C$251/t.

Paul H. Chlup, Dominic Bernard and Graham G. Stewart

Abstract:
J. Inst. Brew. 114(1), 45–61, 2008
Hydrodynamic stresses imposed on brewing cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae during beer processing can have a detrimental impact on beer quality. The use of centrifuges has become an efficient way to increase brewery throughput as they decrease clarification times and improve fermenter and tank conditioning efficiency. The effect of a disc stack centrifuge on yeast and beer physical stability has been investigated. In this study, a commercial ale yeast strain has been subjected to different operating conditions during centrifugation. Cell viability and intracellular pH decreased due to processing conditions encountered during yeast cropping with a centrifuge. A relationship has been established that yeast cell wall mannan, an unfilterable haze constituent, as a function of G-force and centrifugation cycles, is released from the cell wall while concurrently, particle sizes between 0.5-2.8 µm and beer haze increased. Furthermore, yeast intracellular glycogen and trehalose levels were depleted as a result of centrifugation.
Key words: beer haze, centrifuge, flow cytometry, g-force, glycogen, intracellular pH, stress, trehalose, yeast. Load full article, 17 pages, 1.29 MB , PDF file