Anheuser-Busch - Competitors

Anheuser-Busch Competition

Now Viewing Anheuser-Busch's competition in: Breweries (primary)

Recent Developments

MillerCoors' Headquarters to be in Chicago - The joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors will establish its headquarters in Chicago rather than the home of either partner. The venture will invest $100 million to update Coors' brewery in Golden, Colorado, to enable it to produce a wider range of products and packaging. Golden city officials say that their community can absorb the loss of 150 or so executive jobs to Chicago, but are concerned about Coors' legacy of community activities and philanthropy.

InBev Buys Busch - Belgian brewer InBev, whose brands include Beck's and Bass, bought Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion. The acquisition will make the new company, Anheuser-BuschInBev, the world's largest brewer and world's third-largest company by market capitalization. The deal is expected to close by year-end.

Regional Brewers Struggle - Over 1,400 regional brewers operate in the US, all fighting a declining beer market. While success stories like Boston Beer, brewer of Samuel Adams, are well-known, most independents struggle for distribution rights and sales. The beer market hasn't grown for several years, as wine and spirits erode its market share. The upper mid-market brewing niche is one attractive spot for independent breweries, as it's growing 13 percent annually.

Competitive Landscape

The major driver of demand is consumer leisure activity. The profitability of individual companies depends on marketing, distribution, and operational efficiency. Large companies have advantages in marketing and sales, production economies of scale, and influence with distributors. Small companies can compete effectively by developing specialty products and serving a local or regional market. Average annual revenue per worker is $625,000, but is typically around $140,000 in small companies.

Full Industry Overview For Breweries

Breweries Industry Forecast

from Hoover's/D&B subsidiary First Research

The output of US breweries is forecast to grow at an annual compounded rate of 3.1 percent between 2007 and 2012.

Breweries Growth Steadies

First Research forecasts are based on INFORUM forecasts that are licensed from the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc. (IERF) in College Park, MD. INFORUM's "interindustry-macro" approach to modeling the economy captures the links between industries and the aggregate economy.