Features - Just Drinks

Tempo of Consolidation in Beer Industry Increasing

admin — Wed, 10 May 2000 11:14:00 +0000

The world's leading brewing groupsmarginally increased their share of the global beer market in 1998 with the top 20accounting for 57% of global sales compared to their share of 48% in 1993, according tothe latest Global Brewer Handbook from Canadean, the leading international beverageanalysts. Most of this share growth has been due to consolidation through mergers andacquisitions. Of particular note are Interbrew's acquisition of Labatt (and throughthem a 30% stake in Mexican brewer FEMSA) and Anheuser-Busch's acquisition of a 50%equity stake in Mexico's largest brewer, Modelo.

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Drinking Holes From Hell

admin — Wed, 10 May 2000 11:50:00 +0000

Let's face it. War is hell. War is stupid. It's also the best excuse for drinking ever invented.

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Lion Nathan – NZ’s Lion Ready to Roar

admin — Fri, 12 May 2000 09:09:00 +0000

After this week's coup by Lion Nathan, capturing the brewing licence for Stella Artois, David Robertson, just-drinks Asia-Pacific correspondent assesses CEO Gordon Cairns moves to revitalise its recent flagging fortunes.

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Great Expectorations – a tale for our time

admin — Fri, 12 May 2000 11:15:00 +0000

For weeks now, all over Europe excited wine buyers have been crossing off the days on their calendar and wine producers from China to Chile have been approving stand designs and fretting about just how they'll play it if "that"' supermarket buyer should drop by. A fair proportion of Europe's drinks industry will have put a big red line through the dates May 16-18. Things get a little crazy when the Trade Fair comes to town. It wasn't always thus. The London Wine Trade Fair used to be a cosy drinking club for old buffers in bow ties to get together with their mates and a few of those funny foreign chaps to drink enough good wine to render them insensible. Nowadays, though, so sensible and professional has the LIWTF (don't forget the newly-added 'international') become that it is rare to see anyone curled up asleep in a corner after a hard day of assiduously forgetting to use the spit bucket.

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Dairying In Poland

admin — Sat, 13 May 2000 12:46:00 +0000

Poland - Fragmentation still in milk supply but restructuring of processing

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Euro 2000 : Three Pints Down a Shirt

admin — Sun, 14 May 2000 13:34:00 +0000

Danish brewer Carlsberg is dreaming of England glory as the official sponsor of this year's Euro 2000 football championships. Chris Brook-Carter teamed up with the brewer and some selected hacks for an afternoon of penalties and pints.

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The Jefford Column: Bordeaux Vintage 1999 – The Farmer’s Year

admin — Mon, 15 May 2000 09:08:00 +0000

On the eve of the London International Wine Trade Fair, Andrew Jefford, winner last week of the Glenfiddich Drinks Writer of the Year Award, offers an overview of the Bordeaux 1999 vintage, which was windswept and wet, and difficult for the smaller, unprepared grower.

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Bordeaux : A Downstream Struggle

admin — Mon, 15 May 2000 13:32:00 +0000

Bordeaux has had its fair share of criticism over the past year, with quality and price the burning issues. In an overview of the region, Chris Brook-Carter assesses whether the lesser wines can keep up with the premium market and repel the continuing New World attack.

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KWV’s Fortunes Peak With Perold

admin — Tue, 16 May 2000 09:36:00 +0000

Smoky, velvety and bursting with fruit are not the normal reactions associated when drinking a South African red wine. But then KWV's Abraham Perold has not been designated a super-premium for nothing.

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Saudi Arabia Dairy Update

admin — Wed, 17 May 2000 12:46:00 +0000

The dairy industry in Saudi Arabia, the most sophisticated in the entire Middle East, is at somewhat of a crossroads. Consumption is at an all-time high, milk yields have never been better, the economy is on the up, yet one cannot help but feel that a major upheaval is imminent.

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Coca-Cola : New Name But Business as Usual for UK Market Leader

admin — Thu, 18 May 2000 12:36:00 +0000

Coca-Cola Enterprises, which recently changed its name from Coca-Cola & Schweppes Beverages, continues to lead the way in Britain's £7 billion soft drinks market.

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Editorial comment: LIWTF 2000; a show of strength

admin — Fri, 19 May 2000 14:28:00 +0000

Exhausted after a successful week at the LIWTF Chris Brook-Carter, just-drinks Wine and Spirit Editor, runs the rule over the biggest show of the year.

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EU’s Riojan ruling threatens future of bulk wine industry

admin — Mon, 22 May 2000 12:25:00 +0000

The victory of Spanish wine laws in the European Court of Justice may change the face of the European wine industry for good. Keith Nuthall reports on why bulk shippers are bracing themselves for the worst.

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Lion bites, but Montana will remain independent, says chairman Peter Masfen

admin — Mon, 22 May 2000 14:07:00 +0000

David Robertson, just-drinks Asia-Pacific correspondent, interviews Peter Masfen on the future of Montana Wines after last week's surprise move by NZ brewer Lion Nathan

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Energy drinks and iced beverage sectors see dynamic new launch activity

admin — Tue, 23 May 2000 10:51:00 +0000

Premium positioning continues to be a key theme in the soft drinks sector, with dynamic launch activity for adult-targeted products. New launches highlighted on Datamonitor's new product tracking database, the Worldwide Innovations Network, reveal that energy & sports drinks and iced tea/coffee in particular are proving to be key focus areas.

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Exclusive: Champagne takes the fizz out of Sainsbury’s Millennium profits?

admin — Thu, 25 May 2000 17:07:00 +0000

The hangover from the Millennium celebrations is still affecting the champagne business. Giles Fallowfield assesses the impact of the surplus stock still floating around the industry and claims UK retailer Sainsbury's has suffered major losses in its own label champagne brand.

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Exclusive: Heineken must buy Bass to stay Europe’s number one

admin — Fri, 26 May 2000 11:59:00 +0000

Dutch brewer Heineken has denied that theInterbrew/Whitbread tie-up has left it vulnerable in the UK market, leaving it no choicebut to buy Bass Brewers at any cost.

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The Jefford column: Consolidation fever!

admin — Fri, 27 Oct 2000 10:05:00 +0000

There's been a whiff of forty-nine about the year 2000. You can't pursue the goldrush analogy too far (nothing's going to run out in the drinks world, for example, as long as the sun shines on vineyards and barley-fields, and as long as tiny fungi called yeast continue to eat sugar and excrete ethanol and CO2).

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Competition fragile in face of Brazilian domestic beer giants

admin — Tue, 31 Oct 2000 13:14:00 +0000

Six months on from the merger that created the giant Brazilian brewer AmBev, just-drinks.com re-evaluates the Brazilian beer market. Despite multi-national interest in Brazil, complex distribution agreements, soft-drink alliances and the marketing spend of the "Big Two" are threatening smaller and international players.

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Drinks industry must adapt to survive new look Asian duty free market

admin — Thu, 02 Nov 2000 09:00:00 +0000

Once the darling of the drinks world, Asian duty free cost the industry dear when the tiger economies collapsed three years ago. An up-turn in fortunes has been welcomed, but Ben Cooper urges for caution as these are not the markets of old.

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