Sales of premium beer continue to outgrow globally over private
label and discounted varieties, according to the latest findings by
beverage research group Canadean.
This week's news brief finds Portugal's largest brewer having to
close a plant, Procter and Gamble possibly going off coffee and
another victory in the
battle against forcing metric measurements.
The manufacturer of a new brewing enzyme claims its latest
innovation will shake up beer production in Europe, by cutting the
time and cost of processing.
Food safety and animal health top the agenda at
today's meeting of EU's agricultural ministers, with
the future of milk, wine and sugar production also up for
discussion.
German malting company Weyermann is posed to tap the trend towards
organic colourings by introducing an organic version of its Sinamar
natural liquid malt colour.
In the latest news round-up, Campari remains in good spirits
despite a decline in soft drinks sales, Czech beer is on the rise
and brewer Heineken is still lost in translation over its Rugby
World Cup sponsorship.
Australian brewer Foster's has posted 4.7 per cent increase in
sales to AUS$4.5bn (€2.6bn) for the full fiscal year as it
continues to expand its operations outside of its core beer brands.
Anheuser-Busch lifted net sales by 6.1 per cent to $4.5bn (€3.2bn)
during the second fiscal quarter, led by strong growth particularly
in its US beer operations.
Heineken announced yesterday that it has doubled its forecast for
net profit growth, with strong sales in emerging markets offsetting
slow growth rates in Europe and the US.
In 2006, the price of beverages was on average two and a half
times more in the most expensive EU country than in the
cheapest, according to a Eurostat report.
The cost of imported wines and spirits in India are set to drop
following the decision yesterday by the country's Central Board of
Excise and Customs (CEBC) to withdraw additional duties on foreign
alcohol products.
Plans to rip out 400,000 hectares of vines to drain the EU's
bulging 'wine lake' will be watered down to put greater emphasis on
marketing wines abroad, Commission officials have confirmed.
French wine militants have warned the country's new president,
Nicolas Sarkozy, there will be more violence if he does not offer
more support to the sector.
The Novozymes group claims that their new enzyme can help brewers
increase capacity at little extra cost by offering longer and more
consistent filtration cycles.
Militant winemakers have claimed responsibility for explosions and
fires at several supermarkets in southern France, raising concerns
of a return to violence in the region.
Heineken has landed the seventh largest fine ever handed out by EU
competition authorities, for a beer cartel it operated with other
brewers, including Grolsch and InBev.
Wine producers in Bordeaux's Saint-Emilion say they are to appeal
against the suspension of the area's 'grand cru' label, a ruling
that threatens to overshadow a crucial week in the Bordeaux
calendar.
The UK wine and spirits industry has said it is 'deeply
disappointed' by the UK chancellor's plans to raise duty tax on
wine, announced in his 2007 Budget Speech Wednesday.
A creeping optimism about France's prospects on the much
sought-after UK wine market appeared to be taking hold of several
French wine producers and exporters at an industry show this week.
The bag-in-box is finally making inroads into France's
traditionally conservative wine market, according to experts who
gathered here in Montpellier for a seminar this month.
A controversial report that aims to water down proposals to reform
the EU wine sector will be debated by Members of the European
Parliament in Strasbourg Tuesday night.
A crash course on the potholes and pitfalls that await wine firms
looking to sell their bottles in India was dished out to industry
professionals at the Wine Evolution conference in Paris this week.
Current proposals to reform Europe's troubled wine sector are too
radical, an EU Parliament committee has said, tabling amendments
that promise a heated debate over the next few months.
China, South America and Europe combined to offset disappointing
performances in North America and South Africa during brewer
SABMiller's third quarter.
Slow progress of plans to radically reform Europe's wine sector
threatens to undermine many of the benefits they may bring, a
French wine industry leader told BeverageDaily.com
Not everyone jostling for space on the UK wine market is going to
survive over the next five years, but those who do are set to
become some of the industry's biggest earners.
Just as an alcohol-fuelled Christmas period has many people
reaching for the vegetable juice this month, a new diet book is
here to explain exactly why the corks should keep popping.
Violence around southern France's vineyards could worsen next year
as more radical groups of winemakers emerge, angry at the region's
ongoing economic problems, one source has warned.
Cider sales have shot up 12 per cent in the UK this year,
provisional figures reveal, taking advantage of a stagnant beer
market with new varieties and a bigger promotion push.
Plans to unite France's Languedoc wine region behind one
Appellation Contrôlée banner are set to be officially adopted at a
regional industry conference Friday.
Australia's biggest soft drinks maker Coca-Cola Amatil has expanded
its alcoholic beverages portfolio through a new agreement with
premium spirits distributor Maxxium.
Diageo, the world's largest alcoholic drinks firm, denied it
planned to launch sparkling spirit drinks in the UK in the near
future after filing a patent for a new way of adding fizz to hard
spirits.
Poor consumer confidence across Western Europe dented growth at UK
brewer Scottish & Newcastle in the third quarter and is likely
to continue into next year, worsened by a pub smoking ban in
Britain.
Resveratrol, a polyphenol found in red wine, extended survival
rates of mice and prevented the negative effects of high-calorie
diets, says a new study published in Nature.