Anheuser-Busch Will Distribute Dutch Beer: Imports, Including Grolsch, See Growth As Beer Sales Fall
Posted on: Wednesday, 22 February 2006, 03:02 CST
By Tom Daykin, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Feb. 22--Anheuser-Busch Inc. said Tuesday it's adding a Dutch beer to the company's brand lineup, a move that comes as the nation's major brewers face declining sales and increased competition from imports and specialty brews.
Anheuser-Busch will take over the U.S. distribution rights for brands owned Dutch brewer Royal Grolsch NV, starting in 2007. The Grolsch brands will join Anheuser-Busch's U.S. portfolio, which is led Bud Light and Budweiser.
"Grolsch is a quality, well-known name among American beer drinkers, making it an ideal partner to begin building our import portfolio around," Anheuser-Busch President August A. Busch IV said in a statement.
Grolsch Premium Lager, the Dutch brewer's largest-selling brand, is known for its "swing-top" bottle cap.
The distribution agreement also includes Grolsch Amber Ale, Grolsch Light Lager and Grolsch Blonde Lager.
The agreement will broaden Grolsch's U.S. distribution through the Anheuser-Busch network of nearly 600 independent wholesalers. Grolsch's brands are now distributed in the United States Stamford, Conn.-based U.S. Beverage Corp.
St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch is the nation's largest brewer, with 49% of the market. But it has just a scant presence in the import segment, including such obscure brands as Kirin Light, from Japan.
Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing Co., the nation's No. 2 brewer with an 18% market share, has a more extensive import lineup, including Foster's, from Australia; Pilsner Urquell, from the Czech Republic; and Peroni, an Italian beer.
Nationwide beer sales, volume, dropped 0.3% in 2005, according to trade publication Beer Marketers Insights. But import sales increased 7.2% in 2005, according to the Beer Institute, a trade group. Imported beer sales have had an average annual growth rate of 5% over the past five years.
The U.S. import category represents 12.4% of the total U.S. beer market. Also, imports sell for higher prices, and generate higher profit margins, than mainstream domestic brands such as Bud Light and Miller Lite.
Anheuser-Busch, in its statement, said it plans to expand its import and high-end beer categories as a key growth strategy.
But Anheuser-Busch will probably be forced to make modest additions, such as the Grolsch distribution rights, to avoid raising anti-trust concerns, Harry Schumacher wrote in a recent edition of his Internet-based trade publication, Beer Business Daily.
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Copyright (c) 2006, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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Source: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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