Beverage

Cayman Islands: Country will export beer to the US for the first time

foodbiz — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:02:23 GMT

April 26 2009 (FoodBizDaily) - A new era is starting for Cayman businesses.

Known for its pristine beaches and most important the diverseness of financial services that it offers to the world, the Cayman Islands are now joining the club of beer exporters fighting for shelf space in the US.

A local brewer - Cayman Islands Brewery (CIB) - is shipping its “Caybrew” to a distributor in Florida; a first for Cayman manufacturers, and the fact is been praised as an entrepreneur success history by Dax Basdeo, the CEO of the Cayman Islands Investment Bureau.

“This is an excellent opportunity for the CI Brewery and is an example of the potential of our local businesses and entrepreneurs,” said Basdeo. “As a past client of the Investment Bureau, it is gratifying to see this business grow, succeed and to hopefully have an even greater economic impact locally through the expansion of its market overseas.” he declared to Caymen Net News.

The brew will debut in stores in Tampa May 1^st. For more information on Caybrew, visit http://www.cib.ky/.

FoodBizDaily.com - Staff writer

Chile: Wine maker and exporter Concha Y Toro announces double digit grow in sales

foodbiz — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:43:46 GMT

April 16 2009 (FoodBizDaily) - Concha y Toro, the leading Wine maker and exporter in Chile declared Thursday a 12.8 percent increase in sales in a preliminary evaluation of the first quarter if compared with the previous year.Sales add to a total of $117.8 million.

The company attributes the grow to sales in the internal market as well as exports and mention its Argentinean subsidiary as a major player in the grow.

FoodBizDaily - Staff writer

France: Pernod Ricard to sell Wild Turkey

foodbiz — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:00:05 GMT

PARIS (Reuters) - French drinks group Pernod Ricard (PERP.PA) announced plans for a 1 billion-euro ($1.35 billion) rights issue on Wednesday and the sale of its Wild Turkey bourbon brand to Campari (CPRI.MI) for $575 mln to cut debt.

Pernod, the world's second-biggest drinks group behind Diageo (DGE.L), borrowed heavily to acquire Absolut vodka maker Vin & Sprit AB from Sweden in July last year and had to sell some brands to meet European Comission competition requirements.

Read full article [Reuters]

US: New Coca-Cola Beverage Dispanser can pour 120 drinks

foodbiz — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:19:06 GMT

April 6 (Bloomberg) -- Coca-Cola Co. is using micro-dosing technology from drugmakers, a smart phone operating system from Microsoft Corp. and style tips from Italian auto designers in its latest attempt to revive falling sales of fountain drinks.
Coca-Cola spent four years developing a self-serve beverage dispenser that can pour as many as 120 drinks. It uses 40 percent less storage space than traditional six- or eight-tap fountains, said Gene Farrell, the project’s manager.

Read full article [Bloomberg]

Korea: Hite Brewery Co. doubled beer sales in Japan in 2008

foodbiz — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 18:38:15 GMT

The largest brewery in Korea, Hite Brewery Co.(HBWPF ) doubled sales to Japan last year, according to a company statement. The company attributes new distribution channels and product localization to the success in the Japanese market.

Sales of Hite beer in Japan grown from U$ 7 millions in 2007 to U$ 16 million one year later.

Hite Brewery has a 60% share of the South Korea's beer market .

South Africa: SABMiller African beer volume growth slows

foodbiz — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:58:44 GMT

JOHANNESBURG, April 1 (Reuters) - Brewing giant SABMiller (SAB.L) said on Wednesday growth in lager volumes may brake in Africa, one of its top performing regions, next fiscal year as the global crisis reaches the poorest continent. - SABMiller's head of Africa told Reuters the brewer of Peroni and Grolsch would keep beer volumes rising given African economies are relatively well cushioned from the world economic slowdown, but said the ripple effects were already being felt.

Read full article [Reuters]

China: Chinese Beer Snow becomes the world's biggest selling beer

foodbiz — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:53:44 GMT

LONDON, March 31 (Reuters) - Chinese beer Snow leapt ahead of Bud Light to become the world's biggest selling beer as China stretches its lead as the largest beer market in the world, according to provisional data from researcher Plato Logic. Snow, which is brewed by SABMiller (SAB.L) and its Chinese partner China Resources Enterprises Ltd (0291.HK), saw its 2008 sales volumes jump 19.1 percent to 61 million hectolitres putting it well ahead of Bud Light and sister brew Budweiser.

Read full article [Reuters]

Africa: SABMiller set to quench Africa’s thirst

foodbiz — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:37:48 GMT

SABMILLER, which is the world’s second-largest brewer, is focusing on Africa in a bid to tap into a market worth $3bn.The brewer will also be opening four new breweries this year as it seeks to benefit from countries economies’ growing at about 4% and 5%. - Nigel Fairbrass, head of media relations, said yesterday that African countries were mainly cash economies, and had not run up exposure to credit in the same fashion as other countries had.

Read full article [businessday.co.za]

Scotland: Diageo axes 250 jobs in bid to save £100m

foodbiz — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 15:23:02 GMT

DIAGEO, Scotland's largest Scotch whisky producer, is to shed up to 250 jobs as it continues its purge on costs.
The company, which employs 4,500 across the country, producing more than 50 million cases of Scotch whisky and white spirits, is to lose more than 100 employees from its direct sales force by the end of April. - It is understood that it will also reduce the number of brand ambassadors in Scotland as it looks to implement a restructuring plan aimed at creating full-year savings of £100m.

Read full article [scotsman.com]

Ethiopia: Coca-Cola returns to Ethiopia but drains country's foreign exchange reserves

foodbiz — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:34:50 GMT

The American soft drink Coca-Cola has become a symbol of Ethiopia's deepening financial troubles. The beverage is flowing again after a brief pause, even though it drains the country's precious foreign exchange reserves. - Truckloads of Coca-Cola began rolling out of the bottling plant in Addis Ababa Friday, ending a nearly two week Coke-drought. The local bottler had to shut down this month when it became impossible to obtain the hard currency needed for imports such as bottle caps.

Read full article [voanews.com]