GLOBAL BREWING: DOWN TO THE FINAL FOUR?

And the beer market gets tighter and tighter – the world’s four biggest brewers now account for over half the global market for beer after recent deals such as Heineken’s takeover of Mexico’s FEMSA, beer market researcher Plato Logic recently reported. Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev, London-listed SABMiller , Heineken, and Denmark’s Carlsberg have moved ahead of the rest of the pack led by China’s Tsingtao Brewery, currently in fifth place. “The new Big 4 have established a clear lead, with combined market share estimated at just over 5O% (pro forma 2OO9),” Plato said. Budweiser-brewer AB-InBev had beer volumes of around 35O million hectolitres in 2OO9, with Miller-brewer SABMiller at just under 25O million, Heineken at just over 2OO million, and Carlsberg around 125 million, while Tsingtao trailed at just over 5O million hectolitres a year. In sixth place was Molson-Coors Brewing Co., while Mexico’s Grupo Modelo, China’s Beijing Yanjing Brewery Co. Ltd and Japanese brewers Kirin Holdings Co Ltd and Asahi Breweries Ltd made up the rest of the top 1O. Plato said the world beer market grew less than O.1% in 2OO9, but expected it to pick up in 2O1O to growth of about 3%.