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Corporate Strategies in Beer: Euromonitor
Corporate Strategies in Beer: Euromonitor
Corporate Strategies in Beer: Euromonitor
Euromonitor
November 1998
The World Market for TITLE World
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The World Market for TITLE World
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Strategic analysis
The table below shows the world's major brewers, with details of the type of company they are and
their main market involvement.
Of the top brewers listed only four: Heineken, Interbrew, Carlsberg and Guinness can claim to be
global in terms of production operations. These players share one common characteristic: they all
come originally from small national markets (Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Ireland). Hence,
all players have at an early stage in their development sought overseas expansion in order to build
the scale required to operate efficiently.
Brand reach
The world's major players are either brand owners or licensed brewers and distributors for other
major brewers.
All the major players analysed in this report sell both their own brands and licensed brands. In other
words, for the world's major groups, the strategic decision has been to either:
• Build their own brands; or
• Capitalise on the brand strength of existing brands.
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Traditionally, the major brewers use imported or licensed brands to boost their premium product
positioning within their home market. The section in this report on marketing strategies shows that
"premiumising" is a central feature of the major brewers' marketing activities.
Despite the strong focus on lager, many of the world's lager brewers have important non-lager
brands, or are responsible (mainly via distribution deals) for the sale of ales and stouts in their own
markets.
The table below lists the main brewers profiled in this report and the key areas of the market in
which they operate.
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Anheuser-Busch US X X X –
Asahi Japan X X – –
Bass UK X X X X
Brahma Brazil X X – –
Carlsberg Denmark X X X –
Coors US X X X –
Danone France X X – –
Diageo UK X X X X
Foster's Brewing Australia X X X X
Group
Heineken Netherlands X X – X
Interbrew Belgium X X X X
Kirin Japan X X X X
Miller Brewing US X X – –
San Miguel Philippines X X – X
Scottish & Newcastle UK X X X X
South African South Africa X X X X
Breweries
Whitbread UK X X X X
Source: Euromonitor
Note: Entries in bold indicate a core strategic focus
The focus on beer of the major groups has changed recently. Broadly speaking there are three types
of major brewers in the world:
• Those who are stepping back from brewing, either via diversifying into other areas or actively
pulling out of brewing;
• Those which have increased their focus on beer by selling other assets;
• Those which have not changed their strategic focus and remain firmly committed to brewing.
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These rankings are based on total sales of beer products as reported in company accounts. It will in
some cases include items outside the scope of this report, such as beer packaging activities and
sales of products like alcopops.
At the time of writing, not all the companies profiled had filed full 1997 accounts. Therefore,
Euromonitor has made estimates where necessary. In addition, some of the major brewers only
disclose gross beer sales (ie sales including excise taxes etc). To put all the company sales on an
even basis, Euromonitor has again made estimates for net sales where necessary.
Overall, Anheuser-Busch is the world's largest brewer in terms of value sales, followed by
Heineken of the Netherlands and then the two Japanese brewers Kirin and Asahi.
Anheuser-Busch 8,853
Heineken 5,377
Kirin 1 4,391
Asahi 1 4,137
Interbrew 1 3,892
Diageo 3,568
Scottish & Newcastle 2 3,496
Bass 3 2,932
Carlsberg 2,455
Brahma 2,384
South African Breweries 2,362
Coors 1,822
Foster's Brewing Group 4 1,773
Whitbread 5 1,629
Danone 1 1,276
San Miguel 752
Source: Euromonitor
Notes: 1 Estimate
2 Year ending April
Anheuser-Busch, Miller and Brahma are the dominant players in the Americas (North and South).
The global strength of all three players is principally based on the sales in their home markets (ie
the US and Brazil). This indicates the extent to which the American brewers are still mainly local or
regional brewers and have been relatively late in seeking global expansion.
In contrast, the major European brewers among the world's largest brewers, are more international
in scope. This is especially true of Heineken, Interbrew and Carlsberg.
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Billion litres
Anheuser-Busch 11.34
Heineken 7.38
Miller Brewing 5.13
Brahma 4.10
South African Breweries 3.80
Interbrew 3.80
Carlsberg 3.37
Kirin Breweries 2.92
Foster's Brewing Group 2.88
Asahi Breweries 2.77
Diageo 2.67
Coors 2.42
Danone 1.96
Bass 1.70
Scottish & Newcastle 1.40
Whitbread 0.90
San Miguel 0.65
Source: Euromonitor
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Table 7 Cont
Market Local brewer Global brewer interest % share
Mexico Grupo Modelo Anheuser-Busch (minority stake) 54.0
FEMSA Interbrew
(minority holding in CCM) 46.0
Poland Brewpole BV 20.0
Tichy SAB (100%) 12.0
Zywiec Heineken (100%) 11.0
Lech SAB (100%) 10.0
Okocim SA Carlsberg (minority owned) 9.0
Piast 5.0
Lublin 5.0
Zabrze 4.0
Warsaw 3.0
Others 21.0
Romania SAB 1 18.0
Interbrew 2 12.0
Bere Timisoara SA 6.0
Bere Satv Mare 5.0
Arbema SA 5.0
Haber 4.0
Others 50.0
Russia Sun Brewing 6.0
BBH 4.0
Others 90.0
Thailand Boonrawd 80.0
Carlsberg Thailand Carlsberg (minority stake) 8.0
Thai Asia Pacific Heineken (minority stake) 7.0
Beer Thai Co 2.0
Thai Amarit 2.0
Others 1.0
Ukraine AT Ukrpivo 60.0
Desna 6.0
Obolon 5.0
Slavutich 5.0
Santar 2.0
Others 22.0
Source: Euromonitor
Notes: Brewers in bold are major brewers or linked to major brewers
1 Owns 100% of Ursus and Pitber
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Table 8 Cont
Market Local brewer Global brewer interest % volume
Japan Kirin 42.6
Ashai Breweries 34.4
Sapporo Breweries 16.8
Suntory 5.2
Orion 0.9
Others 0.1
Netherlands Heineken 52.0
Grolsch 12.0
Oranjeboom Interbrew (100%) 12.0
Bavaria 8.0
Private label 2.0
Others 14.0
South Africa 1 South African Breweries 99.0
Others 1.0
Spain Cruzcampo Group Diageo (100%) 19.9
Mahou Danone (minority owned) 14.9
SA El Aguila Heineken (100%) 13.5
Damm 9.5
San Miguel Danone (100%) 9.4
Private label 2.6
Others 30.2
UK Scottish Courage 28.0
Bass 23.0
Whitbread 15.0
Carlsberg Tetley Carlsberg (100%) 14.0
Guinness Diageo (100%) 4.0
Private label 8.0
Others 8.0
US Anheuser-Busch 45.8
Miller 21.8
Coors 13.0
Stroh 8.2
Pabst 3.2
Private label 1.1
Others 6.9
Source: Euromonitor
Notes: Brewers in bold are major brewers or linked to major brewers
1 considered mature by many brewers given SAB’s virtual monopoly
Emerging markets like China are still open to global brewers and offer major opportunities for
expansion. Their diversity means global players still have the opportunity to enter by building their
own production plants. In contrast, markets like Brazil and India have strong domestic players and
are best entered by forging alliances with established brewers or by taking equity stakes.
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Table 9 Cont
Market Local brewer Global brewer interest % volume
Mexico Grupo Modelo Anheuser-Busch
(minority owned) 54.0
FEMSA Interbrew
(minority holding in CCM) 46.0
Thailand Boonrawd 80.0
Carlsberg Thailand Carlsberg (minority owned) 7.0
Thai Asia Pacific Heinken (minority owned) 6.0
Beer Thai Co 5.0
Thai Amarit 2.0
Source: Euromonitor
Note: Brewers in bold are major brewers or linked to major brewers
Given the importance of horeca as a means of marketing new brands and concepts, this shows:
The problems a major brewer from overseas would have trying to penetrate the domestic market of
a rival.
As a means of market entry, it is easier and cheaper to cooperate with an entrenched major brewer
in a mature market (via licensing deals), rather than trying to set up a rival brewing operation. The
only alternative is to buy out a potential rival.
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Table 10 Cont
Market Local brewer Global brewer interest % volume
UK Bass 23.0
Scottish Courage 19.0
Whitbread 15.0
Carlsberg Tetley Carlsberg (100%) 8.0
Guinness Diageo (100%) 3.0
Others 32.0
US Anheuser-Busch 45.5
Miller 21.0
Coors 13.0
Stroh 8.4
Pabst 3.3
Others 8.8
Source: Euromonitor
Notes: Brewers in bold are major brewers or linked to major brewers
1 considered mature by many brewers given SAB’s virtual monopoly
National boundaries are no longer being recognised as the largest brewers in the world try to break
into new markets.
Traditionally, brewing in the world had been centred on several distinct areas, eg the US, Canada,
the UK, Germany and Belgium. These markets have generally been self-contained, and the amount
of cross-trading has been largely negligible (with the exception of one or two truly global brands
such as Heineken, Carlsberg and Guinness.
However, in recent years several of these markets have hit troubled times. In the UK, the beer
market has been in decline since the Beer Orders of 1989. In Germany, the industry is running at
severe over-capacity and the more than 1,000 existing brewers are undergoing a savage bout of
mergers and take-overs, in an attempt to capture a larger share of an ever-decreasing market.
In the US also, the beer market is in decline, and the biggest brewers (Anheuser-Busch, Miller and
Coors) are all facing a new competitive threat from microbreweries.
However, it is only the traditional beer markets that are having problems. Other areas are
performing much better: East Asia, Eastern Europe, Central and South America are proving much
more buoyant.
The large brewers are therefore looking to break into these areas, and gain a foothold in (if not a
stranglehold on) these markets.
Consequently, major brewers worldwide with the financial resources, technological prowess, and
skilled workforces necessary to compete outside their home markets are looking abroad for
opportunities to accelerate volume sales growth.
A company's competitive position within the brewing industry in one country is becoming
increasingly interdependent with that in another country.
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• The exploitation of scale advantages – minimise the cost base and improve profitability and
cash flow;
• Exploit premium core brands – focus on product/service differentiation, or brand equity;
• Exploit growth markets – growth segments of mature markets and emerging markets;
• Invest heavily in brands and new product development.
As such, a growing number of the world's major brewers are aiming to exploit competitive
advantage on a global scale. This essentially means:
• Targeting specific national markets which offer the best potential for growth;
• Exploit the target market by bringing worldwide resources to bear on these operations;
• Focus global development on a core of brands which have the potential to become global in
nature (eg Carlsberg, Foster's, Heineken, Budweiser, Miller, Asahi Super Dry). Note this policy
is not pursued by Interbrew, Danone and Bass which have tended to exploit local brands;
• Develop consistent positions of strength across national markets, eg build a global
manufacturing, distribution and marketing network to exploit global brands, or to provide
economies when producing local brands.
Most of the above strategic moves are related to two fundamental issues:
• The scale of a company's brewing operation – become a global brewer or a dominant brewer in
one country/region;
• Ownership of, or licensed ownership of the world's major beer brands.
The big brewers, either through their own distribution networks or via alliances with other large
brewers, will make their products available through many distribution channels. Distribution (ie
product availability) will be a vital plank in their market dominance.
The major brewers essentially operate a network system of production. They focus their own scale
and efficiency effects on their home markets and on the brewers in which they have a direct control.
They rely on other overseas brewers to employ the same policies in their home markets, to ensure
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their licensed products or exported products are efficiently produced and distributed in other
markets.
Isolated in markets and facing a massive marketing and cost disadvantage, challengers to major
groups will struggle. This fact has been exacerbated in the 1990s by a systematic concentration of
production and distribution facilities and activities either in the hands of, or under the control of, the
major players.
expansion into emerging or untapped markets (eg expand production capacity and sales);
exploitation of economies of scale that exist through vendor relationships, common infrastructures
and shared computing resources;
globalised management reduces the hidden costs incurred when local staff spend time duplicating
each other's efforts instead of brewing beer;
greater ability to invest opportunistically in new businesses that will strengthen current operations
and offer attractive longer-term growth;
greater ability to provide financial incentives to staff to improve the company's economic value
creation.
In 1998, the Dutch brewer Grolsch decided to pull out of Poland. The move immediately triggered
speculation that the company, Netherlands' second biggest brewer, might become a take-over target.
Grolsch announced it was selling its 25% stake in Brewpole, which handled its brands in Poland, to
the Australian majority owners. This was an important step, because Grolsch had always said it
considered Poland its second home market.
The move fuelled speculation that Grolsch could be taken over because essentially Grolsch, like
many national brewers, is now only a strong company in the Netherlands. Its overseas activities are
mainly distribution agreements.
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Example 1 Cont
Grolsch's problems highlight those of smaller brewers trying to expand overseas. In Poland, it faced
the combined competitive challenges of Heineken, which recently announced plans to raise its stake
in Polish Zywiec to 75% from 31.8%, Carlsberg and South African Breweries (SAB).
With big players moving into the market and with competition getting stronger, Grolsch was too
small to survive the competitive battle.
Source: Euromonitor
If a brewer is to survive in a world where global brewers are on the increase, it must become:
• Focused on specific target markets;
• Focused on specific market sectors and markets.
If focus can be obtained, the small brewer has the option to offer some of its beer to a major brewer
for national distribution, rather than larger brewers having to develop such niche products
themselves.
The only alternative is to pull out of brewing and move into an associated line of business, such as
beer retailing and horeca management (eg Allied Domecq).
One worry for the smaller operators is that many of the major brewers are now moving to exploit
fast-growing niches. Anheuser-Busch, Whitbread and Kirin, for example, have all moved into
microbrews and speciality beers. Many of the largest brewers are also actively acquiring or have
acquired beer retailing and leisure interests.
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What the UK experience has shown is that the pressures on brewers in mature markets will force
further consolidation through mergers or other means.
In the mid- to late-1980s the British brewing industry was dominated by the so-called Big Six –
Bass, Scottish & Newcastle, Courage, Allied Lyons (now Allied Domecq), Grand Metropolitan
(GrandMet) and Whitbread. Of these, Bass was the biggest, commanding some 23% of total
volume market share.
The late 1980s, however, saw the start of major reshaping of the industry. Key changes included:
• Courage exchanged its pubs for GrandMet's breweries;
• Allied Domecq merged its brewing interests with Carlsberg to form Carlsberg-Tetley;
• Scottish & Newcastle bought Courage from Foster's to form Scottish Courage.
Each of the aforementioned deals reduced the number of breweries in the UK and increased
industry concentration. The result is that Britain has been ushered into an era of mega-breweries,
with the brewing industry now being dominated by the Big Three – Bass, Scottish Courage and
Carlsberg-Tetley – with Scottish Courage now market leader.
Under the proposed deal, Bass would purchase the 50% of Carlsberg-Tetley owned by Allied
Domecq; Carlsberg would then pass its 50% onto Bass, along with a £20 million one-off cash
payment, in return for a 20% stake in the enlarged Bass Brewing operation.
The result would be an industry in which the two largest brewers controlled around 70% of the
market and the almost certain culling of a range of competing brands and the closure of a number of
breweries and distribution centres.
In view of the degree of control exercised by the two market leaders, an investigation into the deal
by the competition authorities was launched. In June 1997, the UK competition authorities
officially rejected Bass' bid for Carlsberg-Tetley.
The main losers from the deal are Bass and Carlsberg. Carlsberg had been hoping to withdraw from
the British brewing industry. Instead, it now owns an even greater share in a company it wants no
part of.
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Despite the failure to consolidate the industry further, the result of the deal's lack of success will be
similar to the result of the proposed merger. Carlsberg-Tetley is embarking on a cost-cutting
exercise aimed at bringing profitability back to the group. This will result in more brewery closures
and job losses – exactly the things that would have resulted from the merger. Carlsberg-Tetley's
Alloa brewery and the Wrexham brewery have been closed. In addition, a further 20 distribution
depots and administration sites are due to be closed in an attempt to drive down costs – something
which may well have happened had the deal gone through in the first place. Some analysts also
expect Carlsberg-Tetley to sell some of its lesser brands to smaller, regional breweries.
Interestingly, this last plan is one of the options that was originally tabled by Bass as a possible
move to allow the deal to go through.
A feature of the beer market is the tendency for major brewers to focus on one or two global brands
for their success. These key brands are then stretched to cover various sectors of the market.
It should be noted that the global brand strategy is not followed universally by the large brewers
(see Marketing Strategy for more details).
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In these markets cost cutting and the freeing of resources for increased marketing activities are
priorities.
In developing and emerging markets (including mature beer markets a brand is trying to penetrate),
where increasing the penetration of their beverage products is a primary goal, brewers tend to
dedicate the bulk of their investment and effort to infrastructure enhancements, ie developing
production facilities, distribution networks, sales equipment and technology. These investments are
made by acquiring or forming strategic business alliances with local brewers and by matching local
expertise with their experience and focus.
Consequently, the major brewers in their home markets will tend to offer:
• Their own standard, flagship product – Heineken in the Netherlands;
• Their own premium flagship product – Amstel in the Netherlands;
• An imported or made under licence beer which is positioned as a premium beer – Heineken in
North America.
Premium brands are of growing importance to brewers. Faced with market maturity in many home
markets, the aim is to shift demand to higher value-added products, thereby protecting profits in
slow-growing markets.
To develop premium product portfolios, many brewers find it easier and cheaper to introduce a new
overseas brand into their range rather than develop their own. This strategy offers the following
advantages:
• It is cheaper – a new product is not developed from first principles;
• It shares the risk – the foreign brewer will share some of the costs of introduction, including
marketing expenses;
• Overseas brands – even those like Heineken which are positioned in the mid-market in their
domestic market – often have added kudos in overseas markets and acquire a natural premium
positioning;
• It enlivens the product range.
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The decision on which strategy to follow, is based principally on expected profitability. The further
away a market is from the home market and the more distinct the local market culture and customs,
the more likely option two will be chosen. In some instances, brewers will opt straight for option
two and by-pass option one.
The choice between options 2a, 2b and 2c is based on profitability, managerial and marketing
considerations. Option 2a or 2c is the usual route for entry into a well-developed beer market as
these methods exploit a local company's existing distribution and marketing operations.
Route 2b is only practical in newer underdeveloped markets, and is often only undertaken along
with a local joint venture partner, who has local knowledge.
In most developed and mature beer markets, the major players have sought to improve their
positions, via establishing stronger distribution networks with local brewers or via outright purchase
of existing local brewers.
In emerging markets, acquisitions are often on a smaller scale and are focused on South America,
Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia (mainly China).
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Table 11 Cont
Company Date Activity
Anheuser-Busch 1997 Purchased the remaining 50%
interest in its brewing joint
venture at the Stag Brewery in
Mortlake, London, England from
its joint venture partner,
Scottish & Newcastle, Plc. The
Stag Brewery brews Budweiser
primarily for the UK.
Carlsberg 1997 Become the sole owner of
Carlsberg-Tetley in the UK,
following a rejection by the UK
Department of Trade and Industry
of the merger between Bass and
Carlsberg-Tetley.
Heineken 1996 Acquired the Fischer group and
its subsidiary Societe
Adelshoffen, as well as a 66%
interest in Groupe Saint-Arnould,
and have bought the Italian
brewery Moretti.
Interbrew 1995 Acquired Labatt of Canada, with
gave it entry into the North and
South American markets.
Danone 1996 Increased its stake in the
Spanish brewer San Miguel.
Bass 1997 Bought the Burton Brewery from
Carlsberg-Tetley in the UK.
Kirin 1998 Took a 45% stake in Lion Nathan,
the New Zealand brewer which is
major player in Australia.
Source: Euromonitor
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Table 12 Cont
Company Date Activity
Interbrew 1997 Joined with the Venezuelan
Cisneros Group in a US$2 billion
push into the South American
market. The aim is the create a
company that will take a
leadership role in the brewing
industry throughout South America.
1995-1997 Continued to expand into Central
and Eastern Europe, and entered
into partnerships with breweries
in Romania and with Zagrebacka
Pivovara, the first brewery in
Croatia. At the end of 1997 it
also was negotiating to take a
60% stake in Niksic brewery, the
state-owned brewery of the
Yugoslav republic of Montenegro.
1996 Set up a joint venture agreement
in China with the Zhu Jiang Brewery.
Kirin 1998 Took a 45% stake in Lion Nathan,
the only brewer to have set up a
brewery in China without a local
partner.
Danone 1996 Acquired the Chinese brewer Haomen.
1996 Acquired the Chinese brewer Wuhan.
Bass 1995-1997 It has been building up a
portfolio of shares in Eastern-
European Breweries, particularly
Czech operations. In 1996, Bass
strengthened its Eastern European
beer interests by acquiring
majority holdings in Vratislavice
as and Ostravar as in the Czech
Republic and by increasing its
existing stake in Prague Brewing.
Bass has also set up the Bass
Ginsber Business in China.
Source: Euromonitor
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Newly re-engineered companies become operationally more flexible and more nimble and,
importantly, more customer-driven. The newly engineered company benefits from:
• Upgraded management techniques;
• Improved information systems;
• Specific corporate objectives.
EXAMPLE 2 HEINEKEN
Heineken has radically streamlined its operations, both abroad and at home in the last decade. In the
last 10 years, the cost of raw materials has been cut from 11.8% to 7.2% of sales, personnel costs
have dropped from 23% to 19.1%, and packaging costs have been trimmed from 15% to 13%.
The result has meant that Heineken earns higher profit margins than its rivals, part of which is re-
invested in marketing and distribution.
Source: Euromonitor
Increasingly the major groups want to operate only those businesses about which they have some
special knowledge, expertise and long-term commitment. Increasingly, companies are seeking to
operate as a globally focused company.
This implies operating within a group structure but freeing the brewing operations, so that it has the
managerial and financial freedom to focus on its core activities.
This has led to corporate demergers, spin-offs and sales of businesses designated as non-core, and
in important cases purchases of assets seen as of strategic importance for expansion into a particular
market or market segment.
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In the last few years, FBG has sought to rationalise its operations and pull back from operations it
classified as "low-yielding, non-core assets". This has included its brewing interests in the UK. In
1997, FBG managed to sell the Inntrepreneur Pub estate in the UK to Nomura. It also sold its shares
in Scottish & Newcastle. The sale of these assets was achieved without harming its global branding
ambitions, given that Scottish Courage takes on responsibility for the Foster's brand in the UK and
Europe.
Source: Euromonitor
EXAMPLE 4 CARLSBERG
Carlsberg has sought to restructure its capital structure via the sale of bonds and shares and the
taking on of loans. This has been done to reduce its cost of capital and to generate the resources
required for investment in operating activities, principally the restructuring of Carlsberg-Tetley in
the UK and marketing/infrastructure investment in new growth markets.
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