HOT TRUB
February 21, 2001
Edited by: Peter LaFrance (peter.lafrance@beerbasics.com)
Presented by: American Brewer
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Vol. 2 No. 8
This news letter will post items of special interest to brewers, members of the
brewing and distilling community, and members of the media that cover the
beverage alcohol business.
Should you wish to contribute in any way to this venture please contact Peter
LaFrance at peter.lafrance@beerbasics.com
If you wish to be dropped from this list please respond to this posting to peter.lafrance@beerbasics.com
and include the word remove in the Subject: line.
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Today, in a report from Edinburgh, the Reuters news service reports that the Scottish & Newcastle Plc will be closing its Scottish Courage bottling and canning plant in Edinburgh over the next 18 months with the loss of 170 jobs.
However, brewing operations at the modern Fountain Brewery, which produces over one million barrels of beer per year, will undergo an eight million pound renovation to bring it up to modern industry standards. The Fountain Brewery is home for the McEwans line of products, and employs about 100 workers.
S&N said it will be focusing its bottling and canning operations at other sites across Britain closer to its biggest market.
(Is S&N taking off a few “pounds” prior to getting “engaged”
to Interbrew?)
Also from the Reuters wire service, this time from their Tokyo office - Japan's second-largest brewer, Asahi Breweries Ltd, reports it posted a net loss of 15.71 billion yen ($136 million) in calendar 2000. However, it forecast a rebound as Asahi enters the lucrative market of low-malt brews, which are taxed at lower rates than regular beer.
The market share held by Japan's five major brewers was down 0.7 percent in 2000, and in December alone shipments fell 4.9 percent, the fourth straight month of decline.
However, the low-malt segment increased over five and a half percent in December and jumping an additional 9.6 percent in January, riding a 56 straight month increase in sales, due largely to new products and massive sales campaigns.
In January, industry sources said they expected Asahi to begin selling low-malt beers starting in February to compete directly against frontrunners Sapporo Breweries Ltd, Kirin Brewery Co Ltd, Suntory Ltd and Okinawa-based Orion Breweries.
Asahi, which had a 47.9 percent share of the beer market last September, said in October it would cut about ten percent of its work force in an effort to increase profits
(I always wondered about the market for a low-alcohol line of brews in the USA…)
This morning the Brussels office of Reuters reports that a spokesman for the Belgian Economic Minister said the Belgian Government plans to challenge Britain's decision to overturn Belgian beer giant Interbrew's $3.32 billion acquisition of Bass Brewers last year. The government planes to file a complaint with the European Court of Justice against the UK ruling. Ministry spokesman Olivier Pierre said that the ministry plans to file its brief in abut six weeks. He added that the matter was under discussion by the federal government's core cabinet.
A preliminary ruling by the European Court of Justice could take up to 18 months to be delivered.
Interbrew has protested the UK's remedy as disproportionate to the competition concerns and filed a judicial review on February 2 in a bid to buy time -- to improve the business in order to win a better sale price -- and flexibility as to who would be an acceptable buyer.
A UK Department of Trade and Industry spokeswoman told Reuters on Wednesday: "We are confident that the Commission's decision to refer the Interbrew/Bass merger back to the UK and our decision to block the merger was taken correctly and in accordance with the relevant laws and procedures."
According to a Reuters report, legal experts have said Interbrew's chances of overturning Britain’s ruling were slim to non-existent, citing the historic precedent and the specifics of the case.
(And this story goes on and on and on and….)
Maine Mulls
Cigarette Butt Deposit
Associated Press reports that under a proposed law, thought to be the first of its kind in the nation, smokers would pay a surcharge for every cigarette pack they buy in Maine. Then they could redeem the butts for a nickel each.
``It's not a joke,'' said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Joseph Brooks, who modeled the legislation after Maine's bottle-return law, which requires consumers to pay 5-cent deposit on most soft drink and beer bottles. Maine smokers, who consume 2.2 billion cigarettes a year, would be entitled to all their deposits back. The money not returned to smokers represents new revenue for the state, about $50 million a year.
According to the AP report, “Here's how the bill would work: Cigarette manufacturers would mark filters on each cigarette sold in Maine with 5-cent deposit notices. Smokers would pay an additional $1 a pack in deposits. After smoking, they would collect the butts and take them to bottle redemption centers. Clerks would inspect the butts to make sure they are properly marked for refunds. The proposal calls for the creation of a Returnable Tobacco Products Fund that would help disburse the money. It was not immediately clear what the redemption centers would do with the collected butts.”
Nancy Desmaris, who runs a redemption center in Hampden, said the proposal would also give new revenue to businesses like hers that haven't seen their handling fees rise in years, while overhead costs have risen. Critics of the bill suggest that old butts could carry enough bacteria to make handlers sick. Desmaris said she wasn't bothered by that fear, saying, ``This is what we do.''
The Returnable Butt Bill: http://janus.state.me.us/legis/bills/billtexts/LD025801-1.asp
Portland Brewing co-founder Fred Bowman and local beer critic Lisa Morrison recently hosted a two-hour Beer Appreciation for Women course.
The seminar was held on Saturday, Feb. 17, in the Fireside Room at the Portland Brewing Co. Twenty women attended the tasting. Morrison taught the women how to appreciate different styles of beer and how to describe the flavors of the different beers.
According To Kristina Moon, a spokesperson for the Portland Brewing Company, “It went very well. We originally anticipated only about 15 for each session but we ended up with twenty. We now have a waiting list of 30 for the next session.” She went on to say that, “We are going to schedule at least two more sessions. If we keep getting interest there is a good chance it will become a monthly event. Some of the women want to make it an ongoing club.”
The next event is for the 24th of March… Hot Trub will present an interview with Lisa Morrison next week.
The Boston Beer Company, Inc. announced today the promotion of Vice President of Operations Jeffrey White to Chief Operating Officer (COO). Mr. White, 43, joined The Boston Beer Company as Distribution Manager in 1989, held the positions of Operations Manager and Director of Operations and was promoted to Vice President of Operations in 1997. Prior to joining The Boston Beer Company, Mr. White gained industry experience at both Anheuser Busch and New Amsterdam Brewing Company.
As COO, Mr. White will continue to head the operations and the distribution of Samuel Adams and Allied Brands, including the operation of The Samuel Adams Brewery in Cincinnati, Ohio. His duties will expand to include responsibility for the legal and human resources departments.
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