Big brewer Anheuser - Busch represents a whopping 24 % of the ETF and ten stocks make up 73 % of its portfolio.
Like all big business decisions, it was risky being one of the first craft brewers to partner with
a big brewer.
The terms «Craft & Premium» didn't really exist as the big breweries also owned most of the UK's pubs (unlike the USA), so the market was «tied» to
the big brewer's brands with few other choices.
That means those that get taken over by
a big brewer like AB InBev lose that identity even if they still make small batches with distinctive flavors.
While Brazil's poor performance dragged down AB InBev's 2016 results,
the big brewer said it did see growth in other key markets, including a double - digit revenue gain in Mexico.
«If you have a great beer, it isn't a sin to join with
a big brewer and make your beer a success,» says Blue Moon's Villa.
Craft beers, as defined by the Brewers Association, must be less than 25 % controlled by
a big brewer.
Back when there were two
big brewers, a monolithic retailer was more viable.
Carlsberg The Danish brewer reduced its forecast this summer: It now expects sales in Russia, where it is
the biggest brewer — the company says it commands 39 % of the country's beer market and operated 10 breweries — to full 6 % to 7 %.
The rate of growth has made the category a «major priority» for
big brewers, Stirling tells Fortune.
The Heineken - Lagunitas link - up is part of a broader trend of the world's
biggest brewers scooping up full or controlling stakes in craft beer rivals.
«The growth is driven by consumer trends rather than the classic push from
big brewers,» says Jonnie Cahill, Heineken's senior director of low and no alcohol, citing an increasing interest on wellness and balance.
That's the same message that Lagunitas outlined when it announced its deal with Heineken: increased distribution thanks to the support of
a bigger brewer.
The market share within craft has grown from 1 % to over 3 % over that period within the U.S. Heineken's beer volume growth, like other
big brewers, is far slower, rising 3.6 % in the Americas in the first half of 2015.
The best light beers are made by
the big brewers because they are fundamentally technical, not artistic, achievements.
So is it any surprise
big brewers are making a practice of either buying microbreweries outright (as Sleeman did with Quebec's Unibroue in 2004, only to be swallowed by Sapporo in 2006) or, more recently, by launching their own «craft breweries» (as Moosehead did when it launched Brampton, Ont.
Bummed by flat sales of their easier - drinking, ice - cold lagers, the world's
biggest brewers have begun sweating small suds in a big way.
For one,
big brewers have lost market share amid the craft beer revolution as small, regional brands gain favor with drinkers.
AB InBev posted weaker - than - expected fourth quarter earnings as slowing sales in Brazil hit the bottom line of the world's
biggest brewer.
There's a huge debate in the craft world about us,
all big brewers, because we're like the enemy.
But
the big brewers aren't closing up shop just yet.
Although many craft beer brands have become national after being purchased by
the big brewers, the majority of craft breweries remain locally focused.
Big brewers such as Lion and Asahi are no longer part of the Craft Beer Industry Association, with the army of small micro-brewers that has sprung up deciding to exclude them because their vast balance sheets were deemed to give them an unfair advantage, which didn't sit well with the small business entrepreneurs driving most craft beer companies.
Australia's two
big brewers, Carlton & United Breweries, which makes Victoria Bitter and Carlton Draught, and Lion, which produces XXXX Gold and Tooheys, are both battling the falling consumption trends which are also being mirrored at a global level.
Mr O'Hoy, who is a director of Byron Bay craft brewer Stone & Wood, says the dilemma for
the big brewers now as they try to tap into the independent, craft brewing sector, is the risk of killing off the very independence and creativity they are seeking to buy if they choose to acquire rather than build their own brands.
The declining appeal of commercial, mainstream beers is driving mega-mergers, but how do
big brewers tap into the more sophisticated habits of consumers?
Some time this evening, Brussels time, the second -
biggest brewer in the world will be subsumed into the biggest, creating a beer behemoth of... read more
Take a look at this, a fascinating infographic detailing the acquisitions - and brands - of the world's
biggest brewers.
Helped by its sponsorship of the FIFA World Cup, Anheuser - Busch InBev, the world's
biggest brewer, increased beer volumes by 2 % in its second quarter and by 1.5 % in the first half of 2010.
A successful bid by SABMiller would make
it the biggest brewer in Australia and strengthen its -LSB-...]
Lion boss Stuart Irvine, who was in Geelong on Monday morning to launch the nation's
biggest brewer's new Little Creatures brewery, said his company's lightening purchase of a 10 per cent stake in takeover target WCB two months ago would deliver it a «seat at the table» and influence over the direction of the outcome.
So in October the BA launched its own tongue - in - cheek crowdfunding campaign to raise $ 213bn to purchase Anheuser - Busch InBev, the world's
biggest brewer.
The move comes as parent company AB InBev, the world's
biggest brewer, works towards its RE100 commitment to source 100 % renewable electricity worldwide by 2025.
Then
the big brewers and Coke and Pepsi convinced their customers that it wasn't their responsibility, and we now pay for it in our taxes, in our landfills, in the warehouses full of the plastic bottles and containers that the members of American Chemistry Council are so happy to fill and that Nestle is so happy to sell.
Similarly, «[t] he micro-brewery trend started in the mid-1970s in response to the «homogenization» of the American beer market by
the big brewers.
Not exact matches
There's a
big hurdle standing in the way of every
brewer who wants to blend pot and beer, though: the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
That deal has helped Constellation Brands report the strongest beer growth among the «
Big Four»
brewers.
The world's largest
brewer is also thinking much
bigger: Earlier this month it confirmed talks of a possible merger with SABMiller.
It's also a
big - time bacteria
brewer.
The world's
biggest beer makers have been angling to tap rising interest in the craft category, which generated $ 19.6 billion in retail sales last year and now accounts for 11 % of the total beer market, according to industry trade group the
Brewers Association.
Denver is the home of the Great American Beer Festival and many of craft's
biggest names, while Charlotte is a fast - growing beer city with a number of very strong
brewers who are gaining a national reputation.
The companies that make those beers, Boston Beer (sam) and Molson Coors (tap - a) respectively, have found themselves in a war of words after The New York Times published an op - ed by Boston Beer founder Jim Koch in which the
brewer lamented the effect
Big Beer mergers have had on the craft beer industry.
You'd be hard - pressed to find a more divisive issue in the craft beer community than
Big Beer's recent shopping spree for small
brewers.
On Tuesday, Lagunitas, another
big California
brewer, announced it had sold a 50 % stake in the company to Germany's Heineken, in a move to greatly boost its distribution.
AB InBev, the world's
biggest beer
brewer, has acquired a significant stake in one of China's best known craft
brewers, in a move that shakes up the country's tiny but booming craft beer scene and, the slumping beer giant hopes, its own bottom line.
Craft beer lovers can take comfort: The
Brewers Association reports that there are now more than 4,000 active breweries in the U.S., so
Big Beer buyouts can't possibly match the pace of new businesses.
Maintaining that small, micro-brew feel is part of
Big Rock's marketing presence, and the
brewer continues to place an emphasis on the Prairies in its new labels and advertising.
Here are the craft beers and
brewers getting all the buzz and winning People's Choice honors at the country's
biggest beer celebration.
How three mighty mites have managed to carve out niches in the face of competition from
brewers big and small, Amazon, and SAP's Ariba software unit.
«There is confusion and unfortunately a lack of transparency on the labels of the acquired brand,» says Julia Herz, craft beer program director for the
Brewers Association, which advocates on behalf of small and independent brewers not owned or controlled by Bi
Brewers Association, which advocates on behalf of small and independent
brewers not owned or controlled by Bi
brewers not owned or controlled by
Big Beer.