Heineken can face Dutch lawsuit over Greek dominance abuse, the highest EU court ruled on13 February. The European Court of Justice confirmed that a Dutch court can deal with the claims brought by Macedonian Thrace Brewery (MTB) against both Athenian Brewery and its parent Heineken, arising from market power abuses in Greece between 1998 and 2014. In 2015, Heineken’s Greek subsidiary was fined EUR 31.5 million by Greece’s competition regulator after unlawfully pressuring wholesalers and retailers into favouring its brands. MTB’s follow-on claim, initially filed in 2017, has now overcome all procedural attempts by Heineken to avoid liability for the actions of Athenian Brewery.
It is expected that sometime this year, a Dutch court will decide on the extent of damages Heineken is liable for, as MTB is seeking more than EUR 180 million (USD 188 million), including interest to date. Heineken also faces similar claims from Carlsberg, which revealed in October 2024 that it is seeking more than EUR 300 million from the Dutch brewer in a near-identical damages claim.
The ECJ ruling is a crucial milestone in MTB’s efforts to make Heineken accountable. It follows closely ECJ Advocate General Kokott’s September 2024 opinion, which found that there is a “close connection” between the claims brought against both Heineken and its 98.8 percent-owned subsidiary, on the basis that they form one and the same “economic undertaking”, which infringed competition law. This was sufficient to establish that the Netherlands is the appropriate jurisdiction to hear these claims.
Athenian Brewery hits almost EUR 500 million in sales in 2024. The firm, whose market dominance abuses from more than 20 years ago could now lead to a hefty fine for its parent Heineken, has reaffirmed yet again that it is among the Heineken Group’s “golden” subsidiaries. Sales rose to nearly EUR 500 million in 2024, the Greek media outlet Protothema reported on 13 February. Athenian Brewery controls a 50 percent beer market share, rival Carlsberg 31 percent, and MTB, the brewer of Vergina beer, 5 percent. Considering that Greek beer consumption has been flat between 2018 and 2023 at 3.9 million hl (Brewers of Europe data), Athenian Brewery’s revenue hike is clearly related to its market dominance.
Heineken Austria at the cartel court: Judge blasts watchdog. The ECJ’s milestone ruling confirmed that the Dutch firm can be held liable, even if it knew nothing about Brau Union’s alleged abuses of market dominance in Austria. On 11 February, the first public hearing was held at the Vienna Cartel Court. The Austrian anti-trust watchdog (BWB) accuses Brau Union of having abused its market dominance, but the firm denies any wrongdoing. However, during the hearing the presiding judge said that she was not happy with the competition authority’s 260-page submission plus 145 pages of supplements because it lacked “clarity”. She added that the violations were not really evident and instructed the BWB to provide her with a “a clear presentation of the facts”.
This is the second time the judge has made the competition authority rewrite its submission since June 2024, when the authority took Brau Union to court. While some observers interpreted this as an unduly harsh criticism of the BWB’s investigation, as it could be interpreted to mean that the evidence is flimsy at best, others thought the judge was merely keen to establish that the court is unbiased.
Heineken delivers positive outlook for 2025. With all the turbulences in the past few years, Heineken’s investors were elated that the Dutch brewer expects more growth for this year and said it would launch a EUR 1.5 billion share buyback. This was despite Heineken reporting weaker profit and revenue in fiscal 2024. On 12 February, the company said that in 2024 it grew its operating profit by 8.3 percent organically over 2023 to reach EUR 4.5 billion (USD 4.7 billion). This was well above analysts’ estimates of 5.3 percent growth and surpassed Heineken’s own guidance of 8 percent.
Revenue for the year was down 1.2 percent to EUR 35.9 billion, from EUR 36.4 billion in the previous year, due to currency devaluations. Heineken’s net profit came in at EUR 978 million, down from EUR 2.3 billion a year ago because the brewer had to write off EUR 874 million on its investment in CR Beer, the largest brewer in China.
AB-InBev sold less beer in 2024 as China weakness persists. Volume sales in China fell 19 percent in the fourth quarter, marking the third consecutive quarter of double-digit declines there. The brewer said on 26 February that its Chinese business underperformed in a soft beer market, as budget-conscious consumers spent less money in bars and restaurants. In North America (USA and Canada), which represented more than a quarter of the company’s total revenue and 15 percent of global sales volumes in 2023, volumes declined 1.1 percent organically in the fourth quarter and 4.1 percent in the year. Full-year sales came in at 86 million hl. The company is still trying to turn the page on a damaging US boycott that began in the spring of 2023, following a promo video posted by transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. AB-InBev’s sales volumes in the US have been under pressure since then.
Global volume sales dropped 1.9 percent in the quarter and 1.4 percent over the full year to 576 million hl. Group revenue in 2024 was up 2.7 percent organically to reach USD 59.8 billion, while normalised EBITDA rose 8.2 percent organically to hit USD 21 billion.
Keystone buys ailing beer brands Magic Rock, Fourpure, and North. In late January it acquired an “exclusive license” from In Good Company Brewing to produce craft beer brands Magic Rock and Fourpure, which were in financial trouble. A few days later, on 6 February, it added Yorkshire’s iconic North Brewing Co. brands from Leeds, as part of its ambition to establish a GBP 100 million (USD 126 million) portfolio. Although it was not explicitly stated, all brands will likely be produced at Keystone’s brewery in Yorkshire.
Keystone already owns a host of brands: Black Sheep, Purity, Brick, and Brew by Numbers. It also produces the non-alcoholic beer brand Big Drop under licence and distributes French cider and calvados brand Sassy in the UK.
The private equity firm Breal Group rebranded as Keystone Brewing Group in 2024 following a number of acquisitions in the craft beer space. An insider who was quoted by the website Drinks Business, said: “Breal is doing everything it can to hide the fact that everyone is jumping ship and all of these breweries are losing their identities because this is about money, not beer or people, or even respecting the integrity of the brewery or its brands. These are all just assets that will be dumped further down the road.”
Wonders never cease. The UK’s historic Jennings Brewery, which operated for nearly 200 years before its closure, will start producing beer again this summer under new owners. Founded in 1828, the brewery was closed in November 2022 by then-owner Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company, which blamed economic pressures. Both the brewery site in Cockermouth, Cumbria, and the Jennings brands including recipes have been acquired by two local business owners for an undisclosed sum. They are Kurt Canfield, CEO of engineering business Delkia, and Rebecca Canfield, proprietor of the online wine and spirits company Wine and the Wood. Bottled beer under the Jennings brand will continue to be sold by Carlsberg Britvic until March, after which beer production will transfer to the new company.
The beer writer Pete Brown said that Carlsberg Britvic had allowed the brewery to fall into a bad state of disrepair, but Mr Canfield promised the couple are taking it on to benefit the entire community. Mr Brown cheered that Jennings is now under small, independent, local, British-based ownership once again.
Royal Swinkels wants to close the legacy brewery De Molen in Bodegraven, a craft beer pioneer in the Netherlands. Financial results of the south Holland brewer, which was once famous for its windmill logo and experimental beers, have been under pressure for some time. Swinkels thinks this is due to a declining demand for beer. In 2024, domestic beer sales dropped 3.4 percent over 2023 to 11.2 million hl, the Dutch Brewers Association reported on 11 February. Initially, Swinkels wanted to close De Molen in September. The twelve brewery workers, however, wanted it to stay open until October so that the annual Borefts Beer Festival, an event that has been popular at home and abroad since 2009, could take place one last time. A compromise was reached: Borefts will take place from 19 to 20 September. This will allow De Molen, which was founded in 2004, to go out with a bang.
Great Northern, one of Australia’s most popular beer brands, is having a Bud Light moment. It has been hit by a furious backlash over a promotional campaign. The brand, which is owned by CUB/Asahi, is marketed to appeal to outdoor enthusiasts – blokes who like four-wheel drives and dogs and who go camping and fishing. So, what on earth possessed CUB to launch a campaign to raise money for new national parks? While state parks can be enjoyed by all, national parks are more restrictive. You can’t run four-wheel drives through them, you can’t bring dogs into them and camping is more difficult. For these reasons, many Australians don’t approve of national parks expanding.
Oblivious to the issues, Great Northern vowed to match any donation up to AUD 200,000 (USD 124,000) when customers gave to the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife. But the brewer had to row back after activist drinkers called it “woke” and vowed to boycott the brand. It was the four-wheel driving Facebook group 4WD TV which led the opposition, calling the campaign an attempt “to help get us locked out of forests”.
Like marketers at Bud Light, whose partnership with a transgender activist backfired in 2023, Great Northern’s marketing honchos don’t seem to know who their loyal customers are. The whole kerfuffle underlines how marketers will often support causes without understanding the full context or the impact they will have. In December, CUB had already rubbed its customers up the wrong way when the Japanese brewer’s logo was placed above CUB’s logo. Many thought the rebrand politically insensitive, or worse, a Japanese push to re-educate Australians.
No wonder, boycotters cheered the 3 February announcement that CUB’s CEO Danny Celoni is quitting the company in June to pursue new opportunities. Asahi dismissed any link to the current protest. The firm said his departure had been planned late last year, prior to the parks campaign launch, and followed a management restructure at the brewery.
The February beer tax hike could decimate Australian pubs and breweries. The average cost of a schooner of beer has risen by about AUD 1 (USD 0.62) after the government’s staggering tax on a cold one was hiked yet again. The Federal Government’s alcohol excise is linked to the inflation rate and applied to beer and spirits twice a year in February and August. The impact on some independent brewers as well as small hospitality businesses could be crushing. They are faced with the conundrum of copping the extra price, or passing it on to customers. Schooners (425 ml) and pints (570 ml) are inching closer to AUD 15 (USD 9.50) and AUD 20 (USD 12.50) respectively in major cities. Publicans are concerned that the prohibitively expensive prices of beer and alcohol are driving people away from their venues. In January, a Sydney pubgoer sparked national outrage after being charged approximately USD 14 for a single pint of beer.
Kylie Lethbridge, CEO of the Independent Brewers Association (IBA), said that the situation is absolutely dire right now for Australia’s small and independent brewers, of which there are 600-plus businesses across the country. While they represent only 8 percent of the total beer market, they employ close to 60 percent of the people working in the sector. Over the past 12 months nearly 50 independents have either gone under or into voluntary administration. Just a handful has successfully emerged from that process.
Australia’s craft brewers Hawkers and White Bay merge to better withstand industry headwinds and financial challenges. Hawkers from Melbourne and White Bay from Sydney have formed the Social Drinks Group, raising AUD 1.5 million (USD 930,000) in fresh capital and appointing a new CEO, Judd Michel. He has worked in the beer industry for many years, most recently spending five years at Heineken Australia. The move will see Hawkers’ and White Bay’s founders step away from the day-to-day running of the breweries. They will sit on the board of directors of the new company, but CEO Judd will be the one driving Social Drinks Group into the future.
Tim Cooper has stepped down after 23 years as Coopers’ Managing Director. As part of its succession planning, Dr Tim Cooper, the Managing Director of Australia’s largest family-owned beer group, Coopers Brewery, has stepped down after 23 years. On 1 March, Dr Cooper, 68, was succeeded by Michael Shearer, currently Coopers’ General Manager. Mr Shearer is the first non-family member to run the brewery in its 163-year-long history. He will oversee the further development of the 6th generation Coopers currently working in the business. In a statement, the company underlined that Coopers will continue to be family-owned and -run. The board, chaired by the fifth-generation member Mel Cooper, has a majority of Directors who are members of the Cooper family.
Over the years, Coopers has invested more than AUD 400 million (USD 250 million) at its Regency Park site in Adelaide, expanding production and packaging capability, and re-entering the malt market with the construction of an onsite maltings in 2017. In August 2024, it opened a spectacular AUD 70 million (USD 44 million) visitor centre.
Carlsberg receives around USD 320 million from the sale of Baltika, the Danish company revealed on 6 February in its 2024 financial report. Carlsberg Group closed the Baltika deal in Russia at the end of 2024 through a management buyout. It later emerged that Baltika had come under the ownership of VG Invest. Carlsberg had announced plans to exit Russia in March 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine. Because it had failed to find a buyer, the Russian president signed a decree in June 2023, which put Carlsberg’s assets under state administration. The following month Taimuraz Bolloyev became president of Baltika. He had previously headed the company for 13 years, until 2004. He was put on the EU’s sanctions list in June 2024. Legal wrangling ensued but, in the end, Carlsberg had to write off nearly USD 1 billion. Baltika is Russia’s second largest brewing company and operates eight breweries.
Austrian brewers more than double the deposit on beer bottles. On 1 February, the deposit was hiked to EUR 0.20 (USD 0.21) per bottle, from EUR 0.09 previously. The higher deposit already applied to 330 ml bottles. It is now extended to half-litre bottles. Brewers hope that the higher deposit will nudge consumers to return their empties more quickly and reduce littering. The exact timing of the changeover was kept a secret. Brewers sought to prevent Austrians from stockpiling and cashing in on the higher deposit, which could have resulted in bottle shortages. Following the increase, crates full of empty beer bottles have become valuable: punters get EUR 7 (EUR 4 for the bottles and EUR 3 for the crate itself) upon their return. Unlike the deposit on single use beverage containers, the deposit on refillable glass bottles is not exempt from VAT. Breweries are now left with a net receipt of EUR 0.16 for each bottle, which is about the cost of a new bottle. The process to introduce the higher deposit had been coordinated with the competition watchdog, as Austria’s brewers did not want to be accused of collusion.
German beer consumption drops 2 percent in 2024. Overall, beer output fell 1.4 percent – compared to the previous year – to 82 million hl. Domestic beer consumption, however, was down 2 percent year-on-year to 58 million hl. This equals a per capita consumption of 88 litres. According to the German Brewers’ Association, after a slight peak in the spring, things went downhill. Not even the European Football Championship helped boost sales. Another possible reason was the bad weather. But as the Bavarian Brewers Association argued on 6 February, blaming the weather and the German team’s premature exit from the championship are just excuses. The reality is that brewers need to contend with the fact that consumers are drinking less beer. Since 1991, the year of Germany’s reunification, brewers have lost 37 million hl in annual beer output. More than a third of their former output has gradually been wiped out.
Bavaria’s 600-odd breweries did somewhat better than their peers in the rest of Germany. They could compensate softening domestic demand with increases in beer exports. They were also benefitting from the trend towards non-alcoholic beer, especially the top-fermenting variety. The non-alcoholic beer segment already represents 2.2 million hl or 8.8 percent of total beer in Bavaria.
Diageo says Trump tariffs could thump its sales recovery, hitting its Mexican tequila portfolio and Canadian whisky in particular. Should both tariffs come into force, Diageo estimates its operating profit could be dented by roughly USD 200 million in its second half. Reporting interim results on 4 February, the firm scrapped its medium-term guidance of 5 percent to 7 percent organic net sales growth, citing ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty. Instead, it will now provide more frequent short-term updates to reflect the rapidly evolving market conditions.
Nearly half (46.2 percent) of Diageo’s US revenues are from drinks imported from Mexico and Canada. This compares with 35.3 percent for Italy’s Campari Group and the 6 percent equivalent for France’s Pernod Ricard. Some analysts expect that Diageo might have to hike prices for US consumers by around 4.6 percent. The US is Diageo’s biggest market. Along with other European drinks makers, Diageo could also be hurt by potential tariffs on EU products, which could lead to further price increases.
Moving to an “asset-light” model in Africa, Diageo has sold Guinness Ghana to France’s Castel Group, which already acts as a brewing and distribution partner to Diageo in a number of African markets. The transaction is valued at USD 81 million. In 2022, Diageo already sold Guinness Cameroon to Castel for GBP 389 million (USD 468 million) and its Ethiopian Meta Abo Brewery to a unit of the French company for allegedly one euro. In 2024, it sold its 58 percent stake in its Lagos-listed subsidiary Guinness Nigeria to Singaporean conglomerate Tolaram for about USD 70 million, joining an exodus of western companies due to Nigeria’s long-running currency crisis.
Fevertree’s investors were delightedwhen Molson Coors announced it has bought an 8.5 percent stake in the UK maker of tonic waters and mixers. TheUSD 88 million deal gives Molson Coors exclusive rights to market Fevertree’s products in the United States. Additionally, Molson Coors will take over Fevertree’s American “operating entity”, Fevertree USA, for USD 23.9 million in cash. After taking ownership of Fevertree’s US production relationships, Molson Coors plans to later move production in-house.
American whiskey growth stalls in US: Brown Forman cuts costs
USA – It is not just Scottish whisky that has lost sales in 2024 (-3.7% on 2023 exports by value): Demand for American whiskey in the US has softened too. In 2024, value sales declined by 1.8 percent to USD 5.2 billion, mainly driven by a decline for lower-priced whiskey. Spirits group Brown-Forman, which makes Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey and a host of other brands, said on 14 January that it is reducing its global workforce of 5,400 employees by about 12 percent (that is more than 600 jobs) and closing its hometown barrel-making plant in Louisville, Kentucky.
These measures shall help the firm to cut costs between USD 70 million and USD 80 million annually. The company’s cooperage will close by 25 April, affecting about 210 hourly and salaried employees. The closure is part of the overall job cuts. Laid-off workers will receive severance, outplacement services and other benefits, the company said. Brown-Forman also said it expects to receive more than USD 30 million from selling its cooperage assets.