No Busch in NASCAR: Since 1984 NASCAR's Grand National Series, basically the Triple A level of stock car racing, has been sponsored by Busch beer. That will all end when the 2007 season finishes up next fall. Anheuser-Busch announced this week it has decided it will not renew the title sponsorship. NASCAR, which faced a similar challenge a few years ago when cigarette maker RJ Reynolds dropped the Winston sponsorship of the top level series, must now find a replacement. Sports marketers predict the annual price tag for the series could be as high as $30-$40 million. NASCAR fans are recognized as among the most brand loyal in any sport.
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What Everyone is Really Drinking: During my travels I'm reminded that for every great beer bar and even for every bar that has at least one craft beer on tap, there are dozens that offer nothing more than a few pale domestic lagers and light beers, with a token import tossed into the mix. That's why it comes as no surprise that the latest industry figures from Beer Marketer's Insights show domestic craft beer makes up just 3.5 percent of the 205.6 million barrel U.S. beer market. What makes up the rest of the 96.5 percent of the beer that people drink in America? Anheuser-Busch products account for 48.5 percent; SABMiller domestic brands hold 18.3 percent; Molson Coors domestics 10.8 percent; imported beers 12.5 percent; and regional brewers 6.4 percent.
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Big Hearing for Iron City: A U.S. Bankruptcy Court is expected to meet in Pittsburgh today and the fate of the Pittsburgh Brewing Co. may hang in the balance. Media reports say the company is likely to ask for an extension until February to have a plan in place to emerge from bankruptcy, but creditors are complaining. The company needs a $500,000 line of credit from a mystery group that the brewery says is ready to provide funding to help it modernize and fuel marketing programs. However, a number of creditors, including Jack Cerone, who owns 20 percent of the company, oppose the deal because it would place Pittsburgh Brewing Acquisition LLC at the front of the line among claims if the brewery should fail. Besides Cerone, others objecting to the plan include the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, Duquesne Light Co. and MeadWestvaco Packaging Systems.
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Dutch Brewer in the Dessert: Heineken N.V. has acquired 49.99 percent of Socit'de Production et de Distribution des Boissons S.A. a Tunisian company. (SPDB). The joint venture plans to build a new brewery in Grombalia that will open in 2008.
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Baltika to Build 11th Russian Brewery: Baltika Breweries says it will spend $85.7 million to construct a brewery in Novosibirsk. Baltika, which has been the top brewer in Russia since 1996, says the new plant will be ready by the end of 2008.
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Czech Brewers Love Tourists and Exports: According to the Czech Beer and Malt Association, sales of Czech beer will be up 4 percent in 2006. The growth is fueled by export sales -- Germany and Slovakia are the two largest markets -- and thirsty tourists. The industry believes that beer consumption by Czechs has been declining, but visitors have been picking up the slack in domestic sales keeping the overall home market consumption flat. Tourists are estimated to drink 12.5 percent of the beer consumed in the Czech Republic.
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