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Woman with sign #metoo (Photo by Mihai Surdu on Unsplash)

Craft Brewers’ #MeToo moment

USA | Allegations of sexual, racial and other misconduct, which were published on Instagram in May, have rocked the American craft beer industry. They have prompted resignations, firings and promises for change.

CEOs cannot avoid politics. “We are all in the fray”

USA | In the old days, employees lived by the rule: leave your politics and religion at the front door. Not any longer. Now they are encouraged to bring their “whole self to work”, which willy-nilly includes their political beliefs. Internal message boards are full of heated debates about all kinds of social issues. What are company bosses to do?

Selling beer with a cause

USA | Is this just an American thing or will it catch on in Europe too? US craft brewers have long used their beers as a soapbox. From Lagunitas’ Undercover Shut-Down Ale, a jab at a 2005 St Patrick’s Day police raid on their brewery, to the many anti-Trump beers, craft brewers have found that embracing a cause can help sell a product.

Pernod Ricard + Brown-Forman: a possible but unlikely merger

USA | Call it a sign of how desperate industry watchers have become that a merger between France’s drinks firm Pernod Ricard and US distiller Brown-Forman is being talked up again, following Diageo’s recent launch of a share buyback programme.

Beyond beer: there is no other way

USA | Heineken, AB-InBev, Molson Coors – all the world’s major brewers want to move beyond their traditional male, beer-drinking image and attract more female and younger drinkers. Fact is: beer has lost its oomph to other alcoholic beverages like wine, spirits and a host of beverages, which defy previous classifications.

Boston Beer to branch out into cannabis beverages

USA | It is still early days for Boston Beer. But like all the major brewers it is seeing a huge growth potential for cannabis beverages. Therefore, it has set up a Canada-based subsidiary for non-alcoholic beverages infused with cannabis.

Two thirds of US beer now packaged in can

USA | The unstoppable rise of cans. Sales of beer in cans were up 11 percent in 2020, says Beer Marketers Insights, a trade publication. While domestic draught beer sales dropped 7.9 million barrels (9.3 million hl) and bottles fell almost 3.6 million barrels, cans picked all that up.

New Belgium releases a bad beer – on purpose

USA | On Earth Day (22 April), New Belgium shocked its punters by releasing Torched Earth Ale, a beer made entirely with ingredients available in a climate-ravaged future.

BrewDog to open Las Vegas’ first carbon negative bar

USA | BrewDog signed the lease for Las Vegas’ first and only carbon negative bar, which is believed to be opening later this year.

Constellation’s USD 650 million impairment charge on Mexicali brewery

USA | Constellation Brands is finding itself in an awkward situation with no easy way out. In March 2020, Mexicali residents, in a referendum, rejected the completion of the 10 million hl brewery at a cost of more than USD 1 billion, which Constellation had already partly built.

Molson Coors buys into gang-staffed TRU Colors brewery

USA | It is a social experiment of sorts. TRU Colors, a start-up brewery from Wilmington, North Carolina, which hopes to stop street violence and unite communities by employing gang members, is getting a boost from Molson Coors.

Coca-Cola CEO wants Congress to act after Georgia’s voting law

USA | Republicans passed and signed Georgia’s new voting law on 25 March 2021, which is aimed at scaling back early voting and other options that became popular during the pandemic.

Second beer tax increase during pandemic riles Canadian brewers

Canada | No joke. On 1 April 2021 the government’s excise tax on beer was increased for the fifth time in four years, and the second time during the pandemic. This increase will place additional stress on struggling bars and restaurants, as well as the 149000 Canadians whose jobs are supported by the production and sale of beer, Beer Canada, a trade group, said.

Mexico’s President opposes beer and milk production in arid areas

Mexico | A populist to the core, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador slammed the production of beer and milk in areas where there is not enough water. In 2020, the populist president already cancelled plans for Constellation’s new 10 million hl brewery on Mexico’s northern border, and on 29 March 2021 he questioned the whole idea of producing beer for export.

US craft brewers sold 9 percent less beer in 2020

USA | For once the doom-mongers were wrong. Restrictions to prevent the spread of covid-19 in 2020 did not force thousands of craft brewers out of business, The Brewers Association (BA) revealed on 8 April 2021.

Hard seltzers – a gift to the brewing industry

USA | Hard seltzers are among the fastest-growing categories within the beer, spirits and wine category, and should continue growing in the double digits this year, AB-InBev’s North American chief Michel Doukeris said on 17 March 2021 on CNBC.

Diageo buys maker of Texan Lone River ranch water

USA | Good grief – what is ranch water? By all accounts it is a hard seltzer that takes its inspiration from a popular Texan highball cocktail, which is mixed with lime juice, tequila, and Topo Chico, a brand of sparkling mineral water from Mexico.

Molson Coors hit by cyber attack

USA | Molson Coors, the number two brewer in the US, fell victim to a cyber attack that appears to have left it unable to access an undisclosed number of systems, and disrupted some of its core business activities. The incident took place on 11 March and was disclosed in an SEC filing on 12 March 2021. Unconfirmed reports argue that it is a ransomware attack.

Drinking less but better: Global beer consumption on a downward slope

USA | Figures for thought: Global beer consumption increased annually until 2010, when per capital consumption reached 26.7 litres, and then declined through 2020, when per capita consumption was projected to hit only 24 litres.

Man who saved brewer Pabst buys Nestlé’s US water operations

USA | Remember Dean Metropoulos, the man who helped turn around Pabst Blue Ribbon before he sold it to its current owners? In February 2021, Nestlé agreed to sell its bottled water business NWNA in the US and Canada to private equity firm One Rock Capital Partners, in a deal worth USD 4.3 billion.

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Craft Brewers’ #MeToo moment

CEOs cannot avoid politics. “We are all in the fray”

Selling beer with a cause

Pernod Ricard + Brown-Forman: a possible but unlikely merger

Beyond beer: there is no other way

Boston Beer to branch out into cannabis beverages

Two thirds of US beer now packaged in can

New Belgium releases a bad beer – on purpose

BrewDog to open Las Vegas’ first carbon negative bar

Constellation’s USD 650 million impairment charge on Mexicali brewery

Molson Coors buys into gang-staffed TRU Colors brewery

Coca-Cola CEO wants Congress to act after Georgia’s voting law

Second beer tax increase during pandemic riles Canadian brewers

Mexico’s President opposes beer and milk production in arid areas

US craft brewers sold 9 percent less beer in 2020

Hard seltzers – a gift to the brewing industry

Diageo buys maker of Texan Lone River ranch water

Molson Coors hit by cyber attack

Drinking less but better: Global beer consumption on a downward slope

Man who saved brewer Pabst buys Nestlé’s US water operations

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