Thailand’s largest spirits producer and owner of the Beer Chang brand, ThaiBev, is eyeing breweries in southern China as potential future acquisition targets.

Senior VP and ThaiBev board director Ueychai Tantha-Obhas reveals exclusively in this month’s BG that the firm’s latest acquisition, the Yunnan Yulinquan Liquor Co, will serve as a Chinese bridgehead for Beer Chang.

“We will go to China, not with beer but with spirits,” said Ueychai. “We would build that route to market around spirits. Once you have that route to market strong enough, then you can invest in beer.

“There are a lot of breweries for sale and there will be in the next three of four years… but if you don’t have a proper route to market, forget it.”

The strategy is reminiscent of that used by the firm in Thailand, when it launched Chang in 1995. Using well established distribution channels for spirits, Chang flooded into the country to dominate the beer market by 1998.

Chang’s arrival ignited a fierce fight, which still rages today with rival Boon Rawd Brewery, owner of the Singha and Leo brands. The two players today control the top four Thai beer brands, accounting for around ...More Info

President Dmitry Medvedev is ordering new restrictions on the sale of beer and similar beverages in what appears to be his first effort to battle Russia's rampant alcoholism, The Associated Press communicated on September 11.

Medvedev has publicly decried Russia's drinking problem and its effect on the nation's well-being.

The planned new restrictions would bar the sale of beer in cans or bottles larger than 330 ml. The new rules apply to "light alcohol" beverages but not to wine, vodka or other hard liquors. The proposals also include tougher sanctions against retailers who break alcohol sale laws, which may lead to criminal proceedings against repeat violators. The law will as well enable regional authorities to introduce restrictions on the times, conditions and locations of alcohol sales.

Beer and other low alcoholic drinks are currently sold in Russia in cans and bottles with volume ranging from 100 ml to five liters and more.

The Russian Public Chamber said in a report in June that around 500,000 Russians die from alcohol-related deaths annually. A study published in June in The Lancet medical journal found that drinking has caused more than half of deaths among Russians aged 15 to 54 since the 1991 Soviet collapse.

The average Russian ...More Info

Despite a less favourable political and economic environment, Europe has defended its leading position as the world’s largest beer producer, according to an Ernst & Young report presented by The Brewers of Europe in Brussels on September 8th.

With a yearly production of 427 million hectolitres (hl), Europe remained ahead of China (393 million hl) and the US (234 million hl), the report stated, which was conducted in all 27 EU countries plus Norway, Switzerland, Croatia and Turkey.

Germany remained Europe’s largest beer producer (103 million hectolitres), followed by the UK (49.5 million hl), Poland (36.9 million hl) and Spain (33.4 million hl). Germany also has by far the most Breweries (1,330), the report pointed out.

“What’s even more interesting is the fact that the number of breweries across Europe has grown almost 25% in the last three years, up from around 3,000 in 2006 to 3,733 today,” The Brewers of Europe Secretary General Rodolphe de Looz-Corswarem said at the presentation of the report, further adding, “National governments, the European economy, and European citizens benefit hugely from the production and sale of beer in terms of jobs, revenue and indeed enjoyment.”

Directly and indirectly 2.5 million jobs in Europe can be ...More Info

British Medical Association today, September 09, called for a total ban on alcohol advertising and sponsorship to quell surging levels of harmful drinking in a report that branded the status quo “perverse”. Thus, Britain should become the first country in the world to introduce a comprehensive ban on alcohol advertising, sponsorship and promotions in an attempt to curb the binge drinking culture, the British Medical Association said.

The ban should include all sports and music sponsorship, adverts in all media and end 'happy hour' and 'two-for-one' promotions, the report 'Under the influence' said.

A raft of other measures were also called for including minimum pricing, an increase in taxation above the rate of inflation and to link the level to the alcoholic strength of the drink, reduce licensing hours in both off licences and pubs, and to force the drinks industry to pay for independent public health promotion.

The voluntary arrangements governing alcohol promotion, including not targeting people under the age of 18 and not linking drink to sexual or physical prowess, are not working and any further tightening of the rules on advertising content is likely to leave loopholes, Prof Gerard Hastings, of Sterling University said.

Prof Hastings, the first ...More Info

Anheuser-Busch InBev (Euronext: ABI) announced September 11 that on Wednesday, September 16, its American Depositary Receipts (ADR) will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol “BUD”. The NYSE listing upgrades the company’s existing Level I ADR program, which was launched on July 1, 2009.

Each ADR represents one ordinary share of Anheuser-Busch InBev common stock. Anheuser-Busch InBev ordinary shares will continue to trade on Euronext Brussels, the company’s primary listing, under the symbol “ABI.”

Felipe Dutra, Chief Financial Officer of Anheuser-Busch InBev, said: "Listing on the NYSE is another important step in facilitating broader ownership of Anheuser-Busch InBev shares in the U.S. capital markets and reflects the company’s global presence. We are proud to bring back to the NYSE the widely recognized “BUD” symbol which now represents a truly global entity with brands such as Stella Artois and Beck’s, in addition to the iconic American brand Budweiser.”

The Bank of New York Mellon acts as the depositary bank for the ADR program. For more information, please contact Lance Miller at The Bank of New York Mellon’s Depositary Receipt.

About Anheuser-Busch InBev

Anheuser-Busch InBev is a publicly traded company (Euronext: ABI) based in Leuven, Belgium and has established an American depositary receipt ...More Info

Kirin Holdings Co. and Suntory Holdings Ltd. plan to ask the Fair Trade Commission for a preliminary investigation into whether their proposed merger runs counter to the Antimonopoly Law, Kyodo News cited industry sources saying on September 8th.

Kirin and Suntory have been in talks to reach agreement as early as this year on integrating themselves into one of the world's largest beverage makers.

But as their combined share of Japan's beer market would exceed 50 percent, they are concerned about whether the FTC would approve the deal.

If the FTC gives its preliminary approval to the proposed merger, the talks may make progress, according to the sources.

Kirin spokeswoman Marina Totsuka and Suntory spokeswoman Naoko Tsuda both declined to comment on the progress of merger talks when contacted by Bloomberg News.

Japan's beer market has shrunk 15 percent in volume terms in the past decade as the nation's population rapidly ages -- a demographic shift that has prompted Suntory and Kirin to aggressively diversify out of Japan and away from beer.

Kirin and Suntory said in July they had begun preliminary talks to create a food and beverage giant with around $40 billion in annual sales, and a Kirin executive said last ...More Info

“Prices for both malt and feed barley are very low, with markets projected to remain depressed until late 2009 to early 2010,” Farm & Ranch Guide cited Steven Edwardson, executive administrator of the North Dakota Barley Council. “There are a number of interrelated factors contributing to the current stagnant market conditions.” Edwardson doesn't expect the situation to improve anytime soon.

He mentioned the following as factors exerting downward pressure on the barley markets, both for feed and malting classes:

- Above average production in North Dakota in 2008 has contributed to significant carryover inventory levels. On June 1, 2009, North Dakota had 29,800,000 bushels of barley in storage, 75 percent more than the 16,800,000 bushels in storage a year earlier. - Feed barley exports are down. Japan has increased purchases from Australia and Ukraine, and thus has not purchased a significant quantity of feed barley from the U. S. in over 12 months.

- Global barley production is higher. The world produced approximately 154 million metric tons of barley in the 2008-2009 marketing year, a 16 percent increase from the 133 million metric tons produced in 2007-2008. - Global competition is having more impact on U. S. prices. The ...More Info

As per ADAS Harvest Report for HGCA dated September 3rd, the settled weather prevailed over the eastern side of England, but in the Scotland, Wales and the northern regions of England, where most of the remaining grain is located, unsettled weather limited combining opportunities. As the last of the wheat and spring barley mature and become ready for harvest there are increasing concerns over yield losses and deteriorating quality of these later crops if harvesting continues to be delayed.

As farmers in the north are tested by the weather, those in the south and east are well advanced with drilling oilseed rape and cultivations for cereal crops, with the earliest winter wheat likely to be drilled this week.

Winter Barley: Harvest finished. This has brought to a close one of the latest harvests for winter barley in recent years.

Yields were variable, depending primarily on soil type, although variety, management and drilling date will also have some effect, along with local weather. The national average yield is expected to be below average at around 6.3t/ha (5 year average is 6.5t/ha) with yields varying from 5.0t/ha to over 8.0t/ha on the better land. Some yields were affected by harvest losses, in particular brackling where ...More Info

Filip Van Opstaele, Koen Goiris, Evelien Syryn, Luc De Cooman and Guido Aerts

Abstract:
Hops (Humulus lupulus L.) are an essential raw material for beer preparation, mainly on account of the typical bitterness and hoppy aroma of beer. A fine, harmonic, non-lingering bitterness and a pleasant hoppy aroma are key elements of high flavour quality and drinkability. However, by applying conventional hopping using pellets and/or non-isomerised extracts during wort boiling, the intensity and the quality of beer bitterness and, in particular, hoppy aroma are difficult to control. In this paper, high tech hopping, i.e. the use of highly advanced hop products containing bittering principles, hop aromas or hop polyphenols is discussed on the basis of practical brewing research carried out at KaHo-St.Lieven. The emphasis is put on the sensory aspects of different types of pre-isomerised hop extracts, hop aromas, and hop polyphenolic fractions. In respect of hop aromas, a novel hop aroma technology for the production of varietal total hop oils and highly enriched hop oil fractions with distinct organoleptic properties, is presented. It is concluded that fully advanced hopping, i.e. advanced bittering in combination with appropriate hop oil and hop polyphenol preparations, has high potential to improve beer drinkability due to enhanced control of bitterness intensity and quality, hoppy aroma, and mouthfeel, in accordance with the beer style, type, and brand. Descriptors: high tech hopping, drinkability, bitterness, hoppy aroma, hop polyphenols Cerevisia, 33(1) 2008 Load full article from site www.cerevisia.eu