beer bits...incl. Russia and NZ news
J2jurado
( The St. Petersburg Times (Russia) )
Local beer fans will have to drink twice the beer in half the time this
Saturday.
Unlike in previous years, the fourth annual celebration of the city's local
brews will be open for just one day this weekend. The festival, which brings
together the city's five local and four regional breweries in one central area
to sell beer at more than 100 stands, will also include numerous performances
by local artists and sportsmen on 10 stages throughout the area.
The revelry begins with a carnival parade at 12:30 p.m. down Nevsky Prospect to
Palace Square, where the festival will open at 2:30 p.m. It will stretch along
Admiralteysky Prospect and Ul. Dekabristov to the Manezh.
A majority of the city's breweries, Bravo, Baltika, Stepan Razin, Vena and
Bavaria, all members of festival organizer Beer Festival Fund, opted to curtail
the revelry to one day, citing a lack of funds to fully finance the
celebration.
"What we don't like is that the city doesn't contribute even one ruble to the
festival and we have to pay for everything: the parade, security, artists,
stages and so on," said Bravo advertising director Olga Shurupova.
Breweries would not comment on the total cost of the festival, whichis
scheduled to draw 1.2 million people this year, an increase of 200,000 from
1999.
Other festival organizers said that regardless of the program's curtailed
length, the celebration would still be as enjoyable as in the previous year.
"We decided to return to the 1998 formula. Last year, the festival lasted one
and a half days and for some it was a bit boring," said Beer Festival Fund
director Sergey Pozdeyev. "As we didn't want this impression to last, the
festival was shortened, but it will still be the same." The only other change
to the festival program this year was St. Isaac's Square being dropped as an
alternative festival center to Palace Square. Organizers also complained of the
difficulty in closing the large square to participants and the additional cost
incurred.
Beer will start flowing in each brewery's zone at 10 a.m. and only be turned
off after the festival's closing ceremony, complete with fireworks,
in Palace Square at 10:30 p.m.
Burgeoning City Beer Market Flowing Over
( The St. Petersburg Times (Russia) )
St. Petersburg's fourth annual beer festival, which took place on
Saturday in the city center, was ultimately blessed with sunny weather
after the day had started with overcast skies and spots of rain. And while
the change in weather for the festival might have shown that fate was smiling
on beer lovers along the Neva, the number and variety of products available
to the revelers revealed much about the changing face of the St. Petersburg
beer market.
Over 200 million liters of beer - or "liquid bread" as it is often
called by Russians - is sold annually in St. Petersburg, representing about
one-fourth of the total production from the city's five biggest breweries.
It is for this reason that St. Petersburg has often been referred to as
the beer capital of Russia.
But over the last year the characteristics of that market have changed
dramatically. With the entry of new producers and new products, the increasing
role of international firms and capital and the licensed production here
of foreign brands, the approach in St. Petersburg toward saturation of
the market and a shift to an emphasis on regional sales, the character
of the local market has become much more fluid.
New Kid in Town
A year ago, St. Petersburg's Baltika brewery, which at the end of last
week celebrated its 10th anniversary, stood first in volume sales in the
city. But the company has seen its local market share drop since then -
it is now in second place in sales behind Stepan Razin - accompanied by
an increase in the number of significant players in the industry.
This was especially the case after Bravo International, the company
founded by Icelandic capital and already known in the market for its canned
cocktail-style beverages, launched Bochkaryov, the company's first product
on the beer market. Largely as a result of an aggressive advertising campaign,
the Bochkaryov brand has been very successful, garnering 11 percent of
the local market and about 1 percent in all of Russia after only one year.
The initial investment by Bravo to develop the production capacity for
Bochkaryov totaled $32 million, while sales and marketing expenses were
less than $1 million in 1999. Newly-purchased bottling equipment, which
began working at the Bochkaryov factory last month increased the brewery's
overall production capacity by over 50 percent.
Shifting the Focus
But while Bochkaryov has joined a number of other breweries already producing
in St. Petersburg, the company's focus is not solely on sales in Russia's beer
capital. "The greater part of the beer we produce will be delivered to the
regions," says Bravo's marketing manager, Olga Shurupova. According to
Shurupova, Bravo plans to expand its distribution networks into Russia's
Southern, Ural and Siberian regions.
According to Kirill Burdei, the manager of the research company O+K,
Bravo will face strong competition in the regions as a number of Russian
breweries are also targeting these areas in the same mid-to-upper-price-
range segment of the market.
The explanation for the recent shift of focus from St. Petersburg and
Moscow to the regions is relatively simple. Annual beer consumption in
St. Petersburg has climbed to over 40 liters per capita, which is much
higher than the corresponding figure for all of Russia. So the local breweries
involved in actively increasing the production capacity at their facilities
are beginning to target the less-developed national markets.
According to Taimuraz Bolloyev, general director at Baltika, which is
Eastern Europe's largest brewery with a production level of roughly 660
million liters of beer last year, it is still not enough. "We still haven't
reached consumption levels rivaling those in Western Europe, where over 100
liters a
year per capita is consumed," Bolloyev said.
But Bolloyev is not just concerned about national beer consumption out
of concern for sales at his own brewery. According to the Baltika director,
the average price of beer in Western Europe is roughly a tenth that of
stronger alcohol products there, while in Russia the price gap between
the two products is much smaller. "If beer here was cheaper, we would have
fewer alcoholics," Bolloyev said.
All the same, Baltika seems to have outgrown the local market long
ago. Presently only 20 percent of its output is sold in St. Petersburg.
Another 30 percent is sold in Moscow, while the remainder is sold across
the country through 12 distribution centers located in key cities.
Crisis Recovery
Before the 1998 financial crisis hit Russia, Baltika had ambitious
plans to open new brewing outlets in Russia's eastern regions. According
to Bolloyev, the market was only being exploited to half of its capacity
in these regions, with room for dozens of new breweries. "There is not
real competition for market share between local producers until annual
consumption levels hit about 50 liters per capita," he says.
But Baltika has been forced to recast its plans over the last two
years as resources for ambitious construction projects of this type dried
up after the crisis. Now, instead of building brand-new factories in Siberia
or the Urals region, the St. Petersburg company has switched its focus
to purchasing already-existing production facilities. Baltika purchased
a controlling interest first in a brewery located in Rostov and then in
one in Tula. The company then upgraded the production facilities of the
two breweries with investments of $60 million and $40 million respectively.
The factories now produce Baltika beer along with maintaining the production
of their original local brands - Don Beer in Rostov and Arsenalnoye in
Tula.
"The company's prospects in the provincial regions, where the market
is less developed [than in St. Petersburg and Moscow], are very promising,"
says Alexander Sozdatelev, research director at St. Petersburg Gallup.
According to Sozdatelev, the Baltika brand name can be marketed in the
regions as a premium brand, while consumers in the two bigger cities have
been spoiled by the availability of higher end products.
By the spring of 2001, the combined output from the St. Petersburg
plant and the two recently-purchased facilities should total 1.3 billion
liters, with a planned investment of about $60 million this year, Bolloyev
said after meeting with the board of directors of Baltic Beverages Holdings
(BBH). The Scandinavian company owns 75 percent in Baltika as well as a
controlling stake in another six Russian breweries. If so, the Baltika
group would attain a 25-percent share of the national market.
Tapping Into the CIS
Aside from its expansion plans in Russia, Baltika is planning to
broaden its horizons with two other new projects. While one of these will
be somewhere in Russia, the other will involve the company's expansion
into another CIS state. According to Bolloyev, negotiations are already
underway in Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Kazakstan, although it is
not clear yet on which market Baltika will next set its sights.
"A $50 million project is significant for a small country," Bolloyev
said, adding that the country which is ultimately selected will be determined
based on a number of different factors, including how advantageous the
investment conditions proposed by the local authorities will be and questions
related to the relative convertability of the local currency. While Baltika's
expansion into neighboring states is risky, this is offset by the promise
of new markets to develop. Uzbekistan, where present annual consumption
is only six liters per capita, is a perfect example.
Bolloyev, who has been the director at Baltika breweries since it was
first opened in 1990, says that an inflow of foreign investment had been
vital in allowing the company to pursue this type of development program.
This was especially the case with regard to the role played by BBH, which
provided the first foreign money to Baltika between 1993 and 1995.
"This was vital because our resources were insufficient at the time
and no banks were ready to give us money then. Now, however, foreign banks
are ready to provide us with loans," Bolloyev says.
Baltika's total investment in its St. Petersburg brewery is $300
million to date. The company's latest project - a $50 million malt factory
constructed in partnership with French group Soufflet, demonstrates that
the company has developed a strong reputation among financial institutions.
According to Renaissance Capital research, last year the total value of
the company's shares rose by 450 percent, although the stock is not offered
on public exchanges.
Coming From Abroad
At the same time that foreign investment serves as one of the factors
allowing St. Petersburg breweries to shift their focus somewhat from local
to regional markets, it is at the same time bringing them stiffer competition
at home. Baltika is not the only company competing in the in St. Petersburg
with foreign backing.
Kaluga-based South African Breweries (SAB) started to promote its
premium brand Zolotaya Bochka, and Turkish brewery Efes, which completed
construction of a new production facility in Moscow last year, hit the
market with its Stary Melnik brand, which is also aimed at the premium
segment of the market. Thanks to their advertising campaigns, which ran
almost simultaneously last spring-summer, St. Petersburg-based producers
lost about 4 percent of the local market. This is still not really a
catastrophe
for the local producers as, according to research company SNITs, last year
local producers accounted for 91 percent of local beer sales.
The Belgian group SUN Interbrew, which has five facilities across the
country, including St. Petersburg-based Bavaria Breweries, is yet another
strong presence. Although Bavaria's production in St. Petersburg has grown
significantly in recent years, it remains the smallest of the local producers
with annual production of 24.5 million liters. Thanks to further investment
by the SUN group, Bavaria's output grew by roughly three times during the
last year.
According to Bavaria director Ivan Chebotarev, SUN Interbrew plans to
invest another $7 million in its factory this year. This will allow the
brewery to increase its production volume by another 50 percent in 2000.
"This investment will allow us to hold about 10 percent of Petersburg
market," Chebotarev says. "At present we hold only about 6 percent." Bavaria
produces four brands locally, with sales largely in St. Petersburg. But in the
near future, SUN Interbrew's new marketing strategy calls for the production of
one of its national brands - Tolstyak or Kalinskoye - at Bavaria's brewery and
to decrease the number of local brands.
A License To Brew
The financial crisis of 1998 played a big roll in the changing
landscape of the St. Petersburg market. The crisis brought some benefits
to Russian producers, as the fall in disposable income for the average
Russian consumer led to a switch to buying domestic rather than more expensive
foreign goods. The beer industry was no exception. Imported beer's market
share - 10 percent before August 1998 - shrank to 3 percent after the crisis
as fans of Corona and Grolsch switched to Bochkaryov or Ufa-made Sokol.
At the same time, some of the more far-sighted breweries started
negotiations with the foreign beer producers. As a result, foreign brands
have returned after a 1 1/2 year absence. The difference is that now they
are produced in Russia.
SAB hit the market recently with the Czech brand Staro-Pramen. Before
this, in April, SAB surprised Russian consumers with the introduction of
the Kaluga-brewed Holsten brand, which it produces under German license
and sells at half the price of its imported counterpart.
Bravo International was the first of the St. Petersburg breweries to
catch on to this trend by introducing a locally produced Loewenbraeu beer,
under license from the German brewery, and Norway's Bear Beer.
According to Stephen Ogden, financial director at Bravo Holdings
Limited, the share of these licensed brands in the brewery's total output
is not significant. All the same, Ogden says that it is necessary for the
company to maintain production, as many Russian consumers are more
sophisticated
in their tastes and prefer up-scale beers.
The executives at Vena seem to share that opinion. The brewery, with
shareholders including Finland's Sinebryhoff OY, which is in turn owned
by Denmark's Carlsberg A/S, has produced Sinebryhoff brands in Russia since
1998. While licensed brands are also a relatively small part of Vena's
production, the brewery has increased this figure with the introduction
of a St. Petersburg-made Tuborg beer last month.
According to Sergei Khudoleyev, executive director of Vena, the
advertising campaign for Tuborg, which was launched at the beginning of
June, promotes the brand without emphasizing the fact that it is produced
in Russia. "What difference does it make where it was produced?" he asks.
All the same, as licensed beers represent only a small segment of the
market, the companies continue to focus their main efforts on the mass
market.
Stepan Razin, the only local brewery without foreign investment,
overtook Baltika for top sales spot in the St. Petersburg market, selling
130 million liters of beer in the last year. While a half-liter bottle
of Baltika costs about 8 rubles ($0.30) and Bochkaryov is priced at around
12 rubles ($0.43), the price of Stepan Razin's flagship brands - Petrovskoye
and Admiralteyskoye - is about 7 rubles ($0.25).
"Price is the most important criterion for most Russian consumers,"
says O+K's Burdei. "The crisis spelled the end of premium brand imported
beer sales."
A Plastic Future
This is borne out by one of the more common marketing tools Russian
breweries use. In order to make their product more affordable for the widest
masses of consumers and increase their sales, they bottle "liquid bread"
in 1.5 liter plastic bottles.
The Moscow-based Ochakovo factory, which first introduced these
bottles, was able to quickly grab a 1 1/2 percent share of the St. Petersburg
market. Baltika then launched its Medovoye brand, which is only sold in
plastic bottles, in August 1999, and soon the product had attained a 10
percent share in the local market. Bravo followed the trend this summer
by introducing their Oblomov brand, bottled in the same containers.
According to industry experts, the product is particularly popular
during the summer season. "[The introduction of] Plastic is the most promising
development in increasing sales," says Sergei Isayev, director of SNITs
research company. According to Isayev, Baltika was only able to maintain its
market share
in 1999 with the introduction of beer sold in the new bottles.
A Bright Future
Russian beer market statistics fluctuate seasonally. But researchers
say that the growth in the Russian beer market will remain steady. According
to research conducted by Renaissance Capital investment company, in 2000
the market will grow by as much as 30 percent. St. Petersburg factories
are easily outstripping this national growth rate. The combined production
volume of St. Petersburg breweries grew by 100 percent in the first quarter
of 2000 against the same figure for the year before.
But with significant further increases in consumption here unlikely, the search
for markets for the increasing production will continue. "The St. Petersburg
market
is very near to saturation," says Burdei. "So the main competition between beer
producers will take place in theregional markets."
Consumers demanding more from their beer
( The Southland Times (New Zealand) )
BYLINE: PEART Mark
DB Breweries was relying on its premium beer brands to keep its profile
high among increasingly discerning consumers, chief executive Jac van
Herpen said in Invercargill yesterday.
Mr van Herpen said his company was promoting DB Draught, Export Gold,
Heineken, Monteiths, and Tuis, as consumers drank less but demanded
higher quality.
"Our market share is growing after a period of stabilisation, directly
related to a new strategy which we put in place early last year to focus
on the brand side, and establishing direct relationships between the
brand and consumers." In the South Island, DB faced "extremely strong"
competition from Speights. Between them, DB and Speights probably had 90
percent of the South Island brown beer market covered, Mr van Herpen
said.
"They've grown to be very big now, so the challenge for them is to stay
that big.
"We are able to make some inroads and I think that's the competitive
environment.
"You can never be successful to everybody, so our strategy is to find
niches where we think we can play a role.
"It's about managing an assortment of brands for specific moments and
occasions," Mr van Herpen said.
Tui was being marketed with students in mind, DB Draught at the
"traditional drinker" and Export Gold the "flatmate environment" .
Supermarket sales were becoming a major part of the company's business,
with potentially 450 supermarkets available for distribution through
three chains-- Foodstuffs, Woolworths, and Progressive Enterprises.
DB was keen to sell directly into Invercargill supermarkets, with
industry deregulation imminent, Mr van Herpen said.
"What you've seen is the government in the last 10 years has worked
towards a kind of normalisation of the whole market, and supermarkets
are the last part of that.
"With our brands strategy, we will follow that normalisation." DB
Breweries would continue to work closely in Invercargill with
supermarkets and with the Invercargill Licensing Trust, a shareholder in
its South Island brewery at Timaru, Mr van Herpen said.
Booze price rise expected to hit drinkers soon
( The Southland Times (New Zealand) )
BYLINE: WATSON Amanda
SOUTHERN drinkers will get at least one more week before bars and bottle
stores increase prices to cover the Government's rise in excise duty.
Excise duty on alcohol, linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), is up
for review every June 1.
This year, that meant a 1.809 percent tax increase on wine, beer and
spirits from yesterday.
But before it filters through to customers, prices will also rise
because of GST and a likely increase from manufacturers.
Customs Department spokesmen Kevin Loughlin said the tax rise would
increase: A 1 litre jug of beer by 2c.
A 750ml bottle of wine by 3c.
A 1125ml bottle of whisky by 30c.
But other add-ons could put prices up by more.
Southern retailers have yet to announce their price increases.
Invercargill Licensing Trust general manager Greg Mulvey said: "Each
year the Government adjusts upwards the various taxes and imposts
relating to liquor. CPI adjustment of costs is met in the first instance
by breweries. They in turn pass that cost, and others that they have
incurred, on to retailers such as ourselves." The Invercargill trust
will initially cover the increased costs. Last year it did so for about
three weeks.
"It will mean increases but to what level we don't know yet.
There are other factors to be taken into account," Mr Mulvey said.
"It may be we can absorb the price increase in some areas therefore you
can't assume it will be a price increase across the board." Mataura
Licensing Trust general manager John Wyeth said it would also hold
prices for up to two weeks.
"It is just a shocking thing really. It is putting a lot of pressure on
on-premise drinking that does not need any more pressure," Mr Wyeth
said.
Both trusts expected to decide on increased prices next week.
Decisions on price rises are also at least a week away for hotels
outside trust areas.
Hospitality Association Southland president John McHugh, of Winton, said
the 44 member hotels could not afford to absorb the increase and
ultimately customers would be footing the bill.
When all the various tax and manufacturing increases filtered down, it
could mean a jug of beer went up 20c, Mr McHugh said.
"Unfortunately the type of customer we have has been hit really hard
with the tobacco increase, the liquor increase and the interest rate
increases.
"The poor old working class person is the one that comes in for a packet
of smokes and jug of beer after work."
Expanding new view on liquor marketing ( The Press (Canterbury, New Zealand) )
The departure of the big brewers from the liquor- supply chain is
creating opportunities for new players and should make the market more
even for retailers, says Maxxium New Zealand managing director Iain
Abercrombie.
His new company, with a staff of 45 and expected turnover of $110
million, is part of a global venture by Scotland's Highland Distillers,
Jim Beam of the United States, and France's Remy Cointreau.
Six sales staff will be South Island-based.
In just 10 months the trio have set up Maxxium liquor marketing units in
42 countries. Mr Abercrombie said the global push was primarily to
counter the power of Diaggio -- created recently by the amalgamation of
Independent Distillers and Vintners and United Distillers and Vintners.
In New Zealand, Mr Abercrombie said the opening of supermarkets to beer
and wine meant the big brewers had become less interested in dominating
the supply chain.
"We're not a box-mover or distributor," he said. "Our expertise is in
sales and marketing. The old channel alignments (with brewery-controlled
firms) created unfair trading conditions. Now, there's no real reason to
be aligned with a brewery."
Tasman Liquor would deal with most of Maxxium's warehousing and
distribution, although they would also sell to other distributors --
such as Foodstuffs in the South Island -- which had regional expertise.
Maxxium's aim was to ensure that every outlet was able to buy its brands
at comparable prices. Jim Beam and Coruba rum -- which Maxxium had taken
on as an agency brand -- were the first and second most popular spirits
in New Zealand. Other agencies included those with Delegats wines and
Midori.
Maxxium staff would help the brand owners to tailor international
advertising to local conditions and would work with the trade on
promotions to stimulate demand for its products.
"Being able to deal with one organisation with those leading brands is
good news for buyers," Mr Abercrombie said.
The company was keen to lift the contribution its wines were making to
turnover -- now around 25 per cent -- and was open to agency agreements
with owners of premium leading brands which complemented its existing
range.
Mr Abercrombie is a former northern area director for Lion Breweries.
His national sales manager, Rob Morgan, came from DB Breweries.
Elections boost beer consumption in Thailand ( Kyodo World News Service)
BANGKOK, May 12 (Kyodo) -- Like elections in many countries, those in
Thailand are mostly about political development, but in Thailand they
also contribute to expanding the beer market, a private research house
said Friday.
''There are several elections in Thailand this year, including for local
administrative bodies, the Senate, for Bangkok metropolitan governor and
the general election, and beer drinking is one of the means to entertain
voters and canvassers for candidates,'' said one researcher at Thai
Farmers Research Center Co., a Thai Farmer Bank affiliate.
Parties are held for almost all political campaigns in Thailand, both
before and after voting, with only Senate campaigns being barred by law
from using parties as incentives.
And with the politically inspired imbibing added in, domestic beer
consumption in Thailand is expected to reach 1.18 billion liters this
year, up about 15% from 1999, Thai Farmers Research Center said.
In the January-March quarter alone, beer consumption was 282.1 million
liters, up 17.6% from a year earlier.
A second factor contributing to the national thirst is recovery of the
Thai economy from the deep crisis that began in mid-1997, the research
house said.
Amid a growing change from whiskey to beer drinking, major brewers such
as Boon Rawd Brewery Co., brewer of Singha Beer, Beer Thai Co., maker of
Beer Chang, and the Thai Asia Pacific Brewery Co. of Dutch brewer
Heineken compete fiercely for market share, the research house said.
And the local brewers, helped by a cut in personal spending during the
economic crisis, have the lion's share of the market.
Last year, Thailand imported only 810,000 liters of beer, down 68.6%
from 1998, while local brewers exported 14.7 million liters, up 55.4%.
And Thai brewers are expected to export 25.2 million liters of beer, a
44.8% increase, in addition to the boosted electoral thirst-quenching
expected at home this year, the research house said.
The information contained in the Kyodo World News Service report may not
be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written
authority of Kyodo World News Service or The Associated Press.
Copyright 2000 Kyodo News International
Spin-offs for Wanaka brewery ( The Southland Times (New Zealand) )
BYLINE: HAYMAN Ivor
WANAKA -- Big is not always the best, according to Wanaka Beerworks
owner Dave Gillies, who is ecstatic about his craft brewery's
achievements.At the New Zealand Hop Marketing Board's International Beer
Awards last month, Wanaka Beerworks took out the Supreme Award with its
Brewski Lager.
The brewery was also awarded gold in the small brewery category with the
same lager and bronze with its Tall Black in the dark ale section.
Mr Gillies credits his brewer Brian Cope for the awards, saying he had
the expertise in producing quality beer. "You can have the best ingredients,
equipment and systems, but it comes down to the brewer to produce the top
products.
"It is the brewer and no one else who counts in beer making," he said.
"The secret of our success is that my brewer is continually trying to
refine and improve the quality of each brew so it is better than the
last." Mr Cope was introduced to brewing in England and later went to
Freemantle, in Australia, where he was brewer for Cell and Anchor Pub
Brewery.
When Wanaka Beerworks opened in August 1998 in part of the Wanaka
Transport Museum, Mr Cope was employed as the brewer.
Today, the brewery is making three brews -- Brewski Lager, Tall Black
Dark Ale and the most recent product, Cardrona Gold Ale.
The spin-off from the awards has surprised Mr Gillies, who said
Beerworks was now getting orders from as far north as Wellington, and he
is finding it much easier to market the beer.
Because of the increased demand, the brewery is about to install a
larger bottling plant, Mr Gillies said.
UNION OFFICIAL ESTIMATES BREWERY CONSTRUCTION AT UP TO $800 MILLION A NEW
TRUCK PARKING LOT IS ALL ANHEUSER-BUSCH WILL ACKNOWLEDGE NOW PROJECTS WILL
EMPLOY 300 TO 400 ( St. Louis Post-Dispatch )
Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. appears to be embarking on another wave of
construction at the flagship brewery here.
Just last year, the company wrapped up $500 million in construction over
four years. This time around, it will acknowledge so far only a new
parking lot for trucks and plans to modernize its warehouse. But a union
official here said between $500 million and $800 million in projects are
in the pipeline over the next five years.
That's far more than was spent to build the TWA Dome or is being spent
on the hospital building boom in the Central West End.
Jerry Feldhaus, executive secretary-treasurer of the St. Louis Building
and Construction Trades Council AFL-CIO, said the work was mentioned in
a contract signed last fall between the brewery and the various
construction trades that would work on these projects. The contract was
handled through the AFL-CIO office in Washington; there was no comment
from that office Tuesday.
Feldhaus said the projects should employ at their peak 300 to 400 union
tradesmen. He had few additional details, other than the work is
supposed to involve modernizing the fermenting, packaging and warehouse
facilities.
All of the packaging is handled in the landmark Bevo Building, along
Broadway. The eight-story building is the largest packaging plant in the
world, with 27 acres of floor space and more than 25 miles of conveyor
lines. But it was built about 80 years ago. A new plant for bottling and
canning beer has been rumored for years.
Sources at City Hall, at neighboring businesses and among A-B
contractors say that a new packaging plant is being planned for an area
between Broadway and the Mississippi River. The plant would be on a site
bordered by Broadway, Second, Dorcas and Lynch streets. That area is now
used by truckers waiting to load their trailers with beer at the massive
warehouse to the south.
A new packaging plant on that site would probably require razing a
building there that houses the company's engineers; they would be moved
to the Bevo Building, contractor and union sources said.
Just east of this site is the almost-completed truck lot. It covers
about 23 acres that A-B bought from Yellow Freight. The trucking company
never used the site, which was covered with weeds until A-B brought in
tons of fill and paved it. It easily will accommodate more than 100
tractor-trailers. According to City Hall records, A-B spent about $4.5
million on the lot.
A-B said it was consolidating three other lots in the new one. "This
will allow us to load more beer for shipping immediately after it is
packaged," brewery manager Jeff Pitts said in a statement.
The statement also said that the company's board approved funding
earlier this year for a warehouse modernization project.
But the brewery wouldn't say how much any of these projects would cost
or how they might affect production or employment.
NEW USES FOUND FOR OLD FALSTAFF BREWERY ( St. Louis Post-Dispatch )
One of the old Falstaff breweries in St. Louis is being bought by a
budding architect who wants to convert it into apartments, a restaurant
and other commercial space.
The complex of four small, brick buildings is at 3684 Forest Park
Boulevard, just west of Grand Boulevard and a block south of St. Louis
University.
"I actually consider it a very ugly property," said Thomas Welles, who
is paying $300,000 for the site. "But it has a lot of industrial
character . . . A number of people are attracted to that raw flavor."
Welles, a 29-year-old designer/drafter for Trivers Associates
Architects, envisions a restaurant in what had once been the brewery's
aging cellars. Graceful steel bow trusses arc across a 20-foot high
ceiling there, he said.
Some of the 10 apartments will be carved out of a four-story building
once used for fermentation. On the top two floors, the interior of the
walls is still covered with 4-inch-thick cork, which was used for
insulation, Welles said. Once Welles closes on the deal, he will invest
$1.5 million over 18 months on renovations, he said.
Welles is buying the complex from Watson Label Products, which uses the
40,000 square feet for printing bar code labels for industry and for
making die-cutting and laminating equipment. About 50 people work there.
The family-owned business is moving to modern space at 10616 Trenton
Avenue, which is near Page Avenue and Warson Road in the Olivette area.
Mark Watson said that not much of the old brewery is left, except for a
4-foot-tall safe and a few yeast vats.
The site was the first brewery for the Falstaff Brewing Corp., which
bought the Falstaff name from the old Lemp brewery here. The Falstaff
plant was the first brewery to get a permit to make beer after
Prohibition.
Falstaff was last made on this site in the mid-1950s. Falstaff had three
other brewing sites in St. Louis. The last was shut down in 1977.
Falstaff is now made in San Antonio, Texas, by Pabst Brewing Co.
IT TOOK A WHILE FOR AMERICA TO SEE THE LIGHT - BEER, THAT IS ( Denver
Rocky Mountain News )
In some respects, light beer took a while to catch on.
Adolp Coors Jr., son of the founder of Coors Brewing Co., developed a
beer in 1941 with exactly 13.8 fewer calories per serving.
The beer was popular, writes Dan Baum in the unauthorized biography,
Citizen Coors. But materials were scarce during World War II, and the
brewery abandoned the lighter beer to focus on its single brand, now
called Original Coors.
Coors would not put out another light-calorie beer until 1978.
Light beers resurfaced in the mid-'60s, when a chemist for Rhinegold
brewery in New York made a beer called Gablinger's.
It flopped.
``It was ahead of its time and poorly advertised,'' said Joe Owades, the
chemist and former vice president of brewing at Rhinegold who created
the beer.
To lower the calories in beer, natural enzymes are added to completely
break down the starch in barley malt into fermentable sugar. Fermented
sugar converts to alcohol. This increases the alcohol content, but
brewers can reduce the alcohol by adding water, Owades said.
A regular beer has about 140 calories. Miller Lite has 96 calories.
Coors Light has 105; Bud Light, 110. Owades worked on the low-calorie
beer because when he surveyed customers in the 1960s as to why they
didn't drink beer, the response was they didn't like the taste and they
thought it would make them fat.
``Removing the starch makes a beer lighter tasting and easier to
drink,'' said Owades, now an industry consultant in Sonoma, Calif.
Americans were becoming more health conscious by the early '70s, and
Miller, acquired by Philip Morris, introduced its Miller Lite in the
mid-'70s. Anheuser-Busch followed suit.
Peter Coors and his brother, Jeff, knew they needed to launch their own
light beer to stay competitive, Baum writes in Citizen Coors.
``Peter appealed to Jeff's pride as a brewer. People obviously wanted
light beer, he said, but those cigarette makers had no idea how to make
one. Miller Lite was big because it was first, but nobody' s beer could
hold a candle to Coors.
``Jeff, ever the engineer, brought up the problem of complex
carbohydrates. Without them, beer didn't have the mouth-feel or
aftertaste.
``Peter raised family pride. Coors was the company that figured out the
aluminum can, he said. They were the one who had figured out
cold-filtering. If anybody could brew a good-tasting light beer, it was
Coors. ``Jeff kept coming back to the unfermentable sugars. And 96 calories was
an awfully tough benchmark, he said.
``Peter hammered away, stroking Jeff's engineering ego until his older
brother allowed that yes, he probably could come up with a good-
tasting, low-calorie beer if he had to. But the point was moot, Jeff
argued, because Dad (Joe Coors) and Uncle Bill were set against it.
``Peter was ready for him. He said he would handle the elders. . . .
Jeff should be brewing a light beer, secretly. At night, if necessary.
He should make up some story to tell Dad and Uncle Bill to explain his
extra hours at the lab. Anything to keep the elders away until he had a
great-tasting light beer. Peter wanted to present Dad and Uncle Bill
with a complete, unassailable package: a great beer, thorough market
research, and a full-fledged advertising plan. He wanted to do it as
soon as possible.''
TOP SALES
Three top selling light beers in the United States
1999
Bud Light: 29 million barrels.
Miller Lite: 16.25 million barrels
Coors Light: 16 million barrels.
Total light beer volume for 1999: 82.3 million barrels.
Total beer volume for 1999: 198.6 million barrels.
1998
Bud Light: 26.1 million barrels
Miller Lite: 15.9 million barrels.
Coors Light: 15.2 million barrels.
Total light beer volume for 1998: 78.7 million barrels.
Total beer volume for 1998: 195.5 million barrels.
By Source: Beer Marketer's Insight
'IT'S A HIDDEN AGENDA'UNIONS SAY MOLSON, LABATT USING ALBERTA AS UNION-BUSTING
TESTING GROUND ( The Edmonton Sun )
BYLINE: DAVID CARRIGG, EDMONTON SUN 5-25-00
Alberta unions have accused the nation's biggest brewers of using Wild
Rose Country as a testing ground to crush labour unions.
"It's a hidden agenda that's not very hidden at all," Audrey Cormack,
president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, said yesterday.
Cormack's comments come in the wake of Molson's threat to lock out its
Edmonton brewery workers Friday and Molson- and Labatt-owned Brewers
Distributor Ltd.'s decision to lock out 104 city workers April 4.
"It's irregular. Lockouts are normally used as a last resort, not when
negotiations are still ongoing," Cormack said. "Molson and Labatt are
profit-making companies with a drive to go non-union. And it seems
they're starting here in Alberta."
Molson spokesman Scott Ellis said the brewer is frustrated with the
Canadian Auto Workers Local 284, which represents 85 workers at Molson's
Edmonton brewery.
"We're frustrated in the lack of time spent negotiating and the progress
made," Ellis said. "I have heard the union is looking to take a strike
vote on Wednesday."
Ellis said Molson is to meet with Local 284 representatives on Wednesday
and Thursday. If a deal is not struck, the workers will be banned from
the brewery without pay and beer will be brought in from Molson
operations in British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
Ellis would not comment on whether the Edmonton brewery would ultimately
close if no agreement is struck.
"For some reason they have decided they don't want unions working for
them anymore, and Alberta laws certainly favour employers," Cormack
said.
"They want to bust the unions."
Ellis denied there's an agenda to crush Molson's unionized workers.
Cal Bricker, Alberta spokesman for Labatt, was not available for comment
yesterday.
Ellis said Molson has offered its brewery workers a 6.6% pay raise to
$24.70 an hour.
BDL wanted its Edmonton warehouse and delivery workers to take a 30% pay
cut before they were locked out.
Beer deliveries in the city are already behind schedule due to the BDL
crisis, with management now using a contract warehouse and workers to
store and deliver beer. Under provincial law, breweries are not
permitted to ship directly to retailers.
Billy Smith, a worker at the Forum Cold Beer and Liquor outlet near 118
Avenue and 72 Street, said customers had not responded to a leaflet
campaign by BDL workers asking drinkers to boycott Molson and Labatt.
"They feel guilty doing it but they won't switch."
Ken Pettitt, president of home brewing supplier Brew Crew, said business
has jumped 20% since the BDL dispute began last month.
He said a lockout by Molson will add to his bottom line.
"We are increasing inventory - we have been for a while," Pettitt said.
RAISING A BLACK LABEL TO OLD BREWERY ( The London (Ont.) Free Press )
BYLINE: JAMES REANEY, FREE PRESS ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER
SECTION: Sunday Look
For the first time in years, I recently pounded back a Carling Black
Label or two.
The experience was satisfying, if not magical -- which proves the beers
of memory are always the best brews.
There was a time, I swear, when that beer would make me sing out, "Hey
Mabel! Black Label" every time. No such luck with the current product.
Still, hoisting a Black Label proved to be a fine way to salute the
125th anniversary of the old Carling brewery at Talbot Street, south of
the Oxford Street bridge.
At one point in the 19th century, there were 165 breweries in Ontario,
an era celebrated in a new book, On Tap: The Odyssey of Beer & Brewing
in Victorian London-Middlesex, by Glen C. Phillips and published by the
Cheshire Cat Press.
Information from Phillips and Mike Baker, regional history curator at
the London Regional Art & Historical Museums, places Carling as the
largest single-building brewery in Canada when it was built in 1875.
The firm was founded by a man of good Middlesex County farming stock,
Thomas Carling, in 1840. He built on Waterloo Street, north of Pall
Mall, near what came to be called Carling's Creek.
By 1875, his sons abandoned the old brewery and moved to the corner of
Ann and Talbot Streets, farther down the small creek that now bears
their name.
A fire and explosion in February 1879 gutted the new building. Despite
the explosion, the building's walls were still sound and the brewery was
rebuilt. But William Carling, son of the original owner, who helped lead
the firefighting efforts in the bitter cold, fell victim to pneumonia
and died days later.
The company battled back with the help of investment from outside the
family. By 1890 Carling and its great London rival, Labatt's, were about
the same size. Both were capable of putting out about 30, 000 barrels of
ale and porter a year. Carling also produced lager. At this time,
Carling employed about 100 men and Labatt's 70.
The Carling brewery site in London closed in 1936 -- about the time
Black Label was becoming one of its trademark brands.
The building is gone, but not forgotten. Twice, the London public
library's historic sites committee has mounted a plaque commemorating
the Carling brewery on a rock by the trail along the Thames River' s
east bank.
First, the plaque was ripped off by some yahoo. The committee, aided by
city parks department staff, didn't give up.
A new plaque was recessed into the stone, applied to the rock with
adhesive, and the bolts treated so that it could not be unscrewed.
Now, it would appear that another, even more vile yahoo has has taken a
crowbar, or perhaps his own bone-brained self, to the new plaque. Only a
bit of the left side of the plaque remains on the rock. The cost of a
replacement is about $600.
Working on the possibility that said yahoos might read this -- or, more
likely, have it read to them -- I would say cheap-shot cowards like you
are wasting your time.
You can't stop Londoners from honouring their history for long. People
with a lot more smarts and clout than you have tried -- and they never
succeeded for long either.
Meanwhile, as the committee mulls its next move, here's an idea for the
rest of us. Take a stroll along the Thames, south of Oxford. Pause near
the spot where -- to quote the plaque that was and should be there --
vast vats of brew were kept cool by a unique refrigeration system using
spring water from nearby. Quaff in the moment.
I'll drink a Black Label to that.