Japan’s brewers hope revised beer tax will boost pandemic-hit sales

Japan | Brewers reeling from the drop in on-premise sales will get some relief from the long-awaited revisions to the liquor tax system that were implemented in October 2020.

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AB-InBev and Indian Hotels Company open first brewpub

India | Despite a six-month delay due to the covid-19 induced lockdown, the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) and AB-InBev are on course to open the planned 15 such microbreweries in the next five years. Their first brewpub, 7Rivers, threw open its doors at the hotel Taj-MG Road in Bengaluru (formerly known as Bangalore) – a year after the two announced their joint venture.

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China launches anti-dumping probe into Australian wine imports

Australia | The trade dispute between China and Australia is heating up. China has begun an anti-dumping probe into imports of Australian wine, it said on 18 August 2020.

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Asahi to restructure businesses

Japan | For the six months through June 2020, Asahi’s operating profit fell 49 percent to JPY 45 billion (USD 421 million) as beer drinkers around the world avoided going out to bars, Asahi reported in August.

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South Koreans’ boycott of Japanese beers bites

South Korea | Japanese brands, from beer to clothes, were hit hard by a consumer boycott in 2019, which was sparked – allegedly – by South Korean court rulings that allow assets of Japanese companies to be seized and used to compensate Korean victims of World War II-era forced labour. Japan retaliated by imposing curbs on exports of chipmaking materials to South Korea.

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No August beer tax hike

Australia | It is a bittersweet victory. The excise rates on alcohol didn’t go up in August. But not because the government relented and saw sense. It is because of a technicality.  

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IBA postpones convention and cuts staff

Australia | The Independent Brewers Association (IBA), which represents the country’s 600 craft brewers, has decided to postpone its convention, BrewCon, which was scheduled for 9 to 11 November 2020 on the Sunshine Coast.

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Australian brewers call for freeze on beer tax hike

Australia | Brewers, publicans and other representatives of the country’s alcohol industry are calling on the government for the beer tax increase to either be scrapped or for the tariff to be frozen at its current level.

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Cyber-attack on Lion halts beer production

Australia | A sophisticated foreign state-based hacker is believed to be behind the current attacks on Australian governments and businesses. Among them was the country’s number two brewer Lion.

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China slaps punitive tariff on Australian barley

Australia | After China hit Australian barley exports with a tariff of up to 80 percent on 11 May 2020, the agriculture minister, David Littleproud, declared “there is no trade war”.

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Diageo shtoom on United Spirits buy-out

India | The world’s number one drinks company, Diageo, is rumoured to be exploring options to delist its Indian arm, United Spirits, by buying out minority shareholders.

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A grim first quarter for Asahi

Japan | Japanese brewer Asahi reported a 45 percent decline in first quarter 2020 operating profit, as the covid-19 pandemic forced bars and restaurants in its major markets to shut, hurting its sales.

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Asahi gets regulatory approval to buy CUB

Australia | The Foreign Investment Review Board, on 7 May 2020, gave its final approval to Asahi’s AUD 16 billion (USD 10.5 billion) bid for Carlton & United (CUB).

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Australian brewers CUB, Lion and Coopers help struggling pubs

Australia | Major brewers Lion and CUB each announced in April 2020 that they are donating resealable bottles to pubs across the country to assist pubs in selling draught beer in a takeaway format.

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Australian pubs and bars could be shut until September

Australia | Pubs and bars could be shut far longer than in the rest of the world. As social distancing remains a key measure in the battle against covid-19, some health experts have called for pubs and bars to be the last to reopen.

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Australian watchdog clears Asahi’s takeover of CUB

Australia | What has taken the competition authority ACCC so long? More than eight months after the deal’s announcement, the ACCC gave Asahi the go-ahead to take over the country’s leading brewer CUB from AB-InBev.

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Questions over Asahi-CUB transaction

Australia | Observers have been baffled by the whole process of getting Asahi’s takeover of Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) okayed by the authorities. The USD 11.3 billion deal with AB-InBev was announced in July 2019 and only in April 2020 did the competition watchdog relent.

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Independent Brewers call Asahi-CUB approval a “big blow”

Australia | The Independent Brewers Association (IBA) is not happy with the approval of Asahi buying Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), as it will lead to further restriction in consumer choice in the on-premise.

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Coronavirus fear threatens Australia’s wine industry

Australia | With the 2020 harvest underway, it came as a relief to 2500 wine businesses and 6000 grape growers that their industry has been classed as an essential service during the covid-19 pandemic.

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