The big get bigger? Anheuser Busch and InBev subject of merger rumor
European and American stock markets were abuzz today about a possible merger between Anheuser Busch and InBev.
InBev is the world’s largest brewer by volume. Anheuser Busch is the largest by sales.
Their markets don’t overlap much, with InBev primarily outside of North America.
This is not one of the scenarios I imagined when I talked about their distribution agreement.
Is there anything to worry about? At least, from a craft beer fan’s perspective?
I don’t know. I’m not a big fan of giant consolidations like this. InBev, at least, has let the breweries they’ve brought under their umbrella stay true to their product. I have even enjoyed a few of their brands, such as Bass Ale.
Even as big as this company would be I think there’s still room for craft brewers. However, A-B has been for several years now trying to sneak into the craft beer space, by creating beers with different brand names and trying to hide their affiliation. Wild Hop Lager is the latest. (Ron’s review.) They’re not the only ones, of course. SABMiller and Molsen Coors do the same thing.
On the one hand, this isn’t a terrible thing. My wife is a fan of Coors’ Blue Moon Belgian White. I’ve had it and it’s not bad. Not generally what I drink but certainly different than say, Coors Light. I can even see where this might even be necessary. If they called it “Coors Belgian White” the people who think Coors is cheap beer will avoid it, and Coors fans would try it and probably not like. Either way, it’s a loss. People’s long-standing perceptions of a brand are hard to get over. The Japanese car makers understood this. That’s why when they wanted to start selling luxury cars in the U.S., they created Acura, Lexus, and Infiniti. They don’t hide the fact that each is owned by Honda, Toyota, and Nissan, but they don’t scream it from the hilltop either. And, it makes sense. People at that time had a perception of Toyota cars: reliable, fairly inexpensive, and good gas mileage. And there was no way any of them were going to pony up $70,000 for a Toyota. But a Lexus…
So, the big American brewers’ “craft” beers are in a similar situation. I just have two problems with this: They often go to great lengths to disguise who the actual brewer is. This is disingenuous at best, downright fraudulent at worst. Not everyone is savvy enough to figure out who is really behind a brand. Further, I want to support my small, local brewer. He (or she) is a normal person with a family and a passion for good beer. Sure, he’s making some money but he’s not filthy rich. He’s a part of the community. He’s not some faceless corporation looking only at the bottom line and Wall Street.
My fear is that a merger like this would allow the larger company to spend even more money fooling people looking to try something beyond the King of Beers, the Silver Bullet, and the High Life. And, yeah, they might put together a decent product. Maybe. And their pockets are so deep that they could sell it at a loss for years and force smaller brewers out of business. And there goes the wonderful variety we’ve come to appreciate.
I don’t really know what’s going to happen, but it’s a story I’m going to keep an eye on.
