When they came for Budweiser, I wasn’t worried…

Back in November of 2008, a lot was going on. So much that the hostile foreign takeover of the American beer giant Anheuser-Busch didn’t get as much attention as maybe it should have. Sure, Bud lovers were outraged, but I wasn’t a Bud lover, so I didn’t really care. I was more worried about what I considered more important things.

Others noticed, though, and at least one book (Dethroning the King) was devoted to the subject. I barely noticed, and even though I never much cared for what I saw as a rather insipid beer, and even though I am a libertarian who believes in as absolute of a free market as possible, there is still something unseemly about seeing a classic American tradition being bought out for the brand name. And (so I thought) by Belgians! It was only recently that I learned that the acquisition raiders were not Belgian, but a Brazilian clique headed by a man named Carlos Brito. His Wiki entry is here; he is a major billionaire world player and rarely have I seen such a minimal Wiki writeup. The guy is a mystery man with an MBA from Stanford and that’s about it. It seems he wants to operate under the radar. I guess that’s his business, and again, not being a Bud fan, such a thing never would matter to me personally….

Until yesterday, when I learned that a favorite, centuries old German beer brand that I loved for years — Becks — has been bought, diluted, and so corrupted that it is now just another brand of multinational suds, and is brewed in St. Louis.

That got my attention. It also got the attention of Business Week, which has a long, detailed expose of Brito and his sleazeball raider tactics. Titled “The Plot to Destroy America’s Beer,” it just pissed me off to no end. It’s a long article, but is summarized here:

Remember the name Carlos Brito. According to Bloomberg News, this Brazilian-born millionaire is the executive responsible for Anheuser-Busch InBev’s slow destruction of beer brands likes Beck’s in the United States—and they have the sales figures to prove it.

The tale begins with Brian Rinfret, who noticed a difference in the Beck’s he drank stateside, remarking  that the taste seemed more akin to “Budweiser with flavoring.” Upon discovering that the import beer was no longer an actual import and was in fact brewed in the U.S., Rinfret hounded the reps via phone, e-mail, and even Facebook until he was banned from their page. His complaints are nowhere near silenced, as Bloomberg is now on the trail.

Bloomberg singled out Brito for blame, saying “Brito is alienating lovers of A-B InBev’s imports by not importing them. And he’s risking the devotion of American beer lovers by fiddling with the Budweiser recipe in the name of cost-cutting.” The article follows in detail the ways in which Brito has raised the company’s portfolio at the expense of beer provenance and, consequently, taste.

He has not only ruined Beck’s but also Bass, Boddingtons, Hoegarden and Corona are many other once-fine old beers now in his hands. Even Labatt beer (which I’m ashamed to say I was dumb enough to think was Canadian) is now just another Brito brand, brewed anywhere Carlos wants. (For Americans, the “Canadian” beer is brewed here.)

No wonder Yuengling (not only our oldest beer) is now the number one American beer. I have to drive to Ohio to get it, and I am delighted to see that there are many Americans who appreciate a genuine American beer. They are imploring the company not to go the way of Budweiser:

…Dick Yuengling, the company’s fifth-generation owner who engineered a slow-and-steady growth campaign, is in disbelief. The company used to compete with other small regional brewers. Now it’s banging elbows with huge, multinational conglomerates for cooler space and beer-drinker loyalty.

“It just floors me that so much of our beer industry is owned by foreign concerns,” he said. “We were not in any race to be the largest domestically owned brewer, but it’s a tremendous honor for us.”

[…]

Beer drinkers have reacted to global consolidation. Anheuser-Busch InBev remains the dominant U.S. sales leader, moving 98.8 million barrels in 2011. But its sales dropped 7.7 percent from 2008 to 2011, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights. Sales of Yuengling, meanwhile, jumped nearly 40 percent over the same period.

Yuengling’s chief operating officer David Casinelli said the company was inundated with letters from customers after the Anheuser-Busch InBev deal was announced.

“We received letters imploring us not to sell out and do what they did,” Casinelli said. “There are obviously a lot of people who pay attention to that stuff and take it seriously.”

Yes, like yours truly. I’m a bit ashamed that I didn’t say something about the Bud takeover. But as the saying ought to go, “First they came for Budweiser, but I didn’t drink Budweiser, so….”

I am told that the Budweiser mafia is playing dirty tricks to stop Yuengling from expanding, and considering Mr. Brito’s statements, the rumors are probably true:

At his fall distributors meeting, AB InBev’s CEO Carlos Brito reportedly was “offended” that so many Bud distributors were taking on Yuengling. AB-InBev has set forth a new policy of “alignment.” Basically, it designates “anchor distributors” in a given area who will be given priority in buying up neighboring Bud wholesalers who want to sell their businesses. One criteria for being an “anchor” is to demonstrate alignment — that is, you only acquire brands “that compete in segments underserved by our current portfolio… not brands that have a negative impact on the A-B portfolio,” states a company guidebook.

So the son of a bitch is “offended”? Good! Hey I wish I could offend him more. He is messing with my favorite beers so this is personal, and he is ruining wonderful old beers simply to make money, which ought to concern others. The man is an amoral parasite, plain and simple. I can’t do much, but I can refuse to buy any more of his beers. I will keep an eye on whatever he acquires, and I will refuse to buy it.

There is a lesson in this about success, as there seems to be one of those natural rise and fall cycles at work. A product gains a large market share because people like it, then the company makes money because quality translates into loyalty, and all is well as long as the company keeps producing a quality product. But eventually, the brand becomes so valuable that it is a target for acquisition by people (usually MBA sharks like Brito) whose goal is making money, and not producing a quality product. They figure they can coast on the reputation and they will milk every drop of personal profit for themselves. If they ruin fine old companies and fine old products, it makes no difference to them. It’s legal, and as a libertarian I support the right to do it even though I hate it and think it’s evil. But I support the right to do a lot of things I would not do and do not like.

So I’m just saying, I don’t like the Brito bandito, and I’m not buying his stuff.

No wonder the microbrew industry has taken off.


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12 responses to “When they came for Budweiser, I wasn’t worried…”

  1. Simon Avatar
    Simon

    They haven’t got Heineken yet.

    But they do have the rough American equivalent – Rolling Rock.

    http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/anheuser-busch-buys-rolling-rock-brands-434784/

  2. Eric Avatar

    What happened to Rolling Rock was a shame.

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123956245254011681.html

    I think Heineken may be able to take care of itself. Where it comes to financial double-dealing, the Dutch have been around the block a few times.

  3. Frank Avatar
    Frank

    Sierra Nevada is still independent and is expanding east to North Carolina. If you ever get to Chico try their pub restaurant. About 20 beers on tap. Celebration Ale at Christmas, or Ruthless Rye PA are my favorites. Or a New York steak with pint of Porter. Um,um!
    /wiki/Sierra_Nevada_Brewing_Company

  4. Simon Avatar
    Simon

    This:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/12/anheuserbusch-inbev-explo_n_186018.html

    My friends and I always loved RR up here on the shore of L. Ontario and though we had never been there ourselves, we loved to think of the “glass-lined tanks of Old Latrobe.” Then came the day a few years ago when we saw “St Louis” on the bottle. We knew what that meant. We all had such a puss on our faces, but went ahead and drank it anyway. We shook our heads sadly after that first sip. We did finish that 12er, guzzling it so we wouldn’t have to taste it so much. Haven’t bought it since. Terrible waste of a good brand.

  5. Leon C Avatar
    Leon C

    Mr. Brito should read about Schlitz and its demise. It was a national beer until a new brewmeister took over and “upgraded” the brewing. It did not take long for people to notice that it tasted nasty. The huge brewery in Milwaukee that I used to ride past as a kid emptied out soon after.

  6. Kathy Kinsley Avatar
    Kathy Kinsley

    I remember Schlitz – used to even drink it. Until it started tasting nasty…sigh. Sorry about that empty brewery – but I couldn’t help but notice.

    OTOH, when they came for Budweiser, I wasn’t worried…that always has tasted nasty, IMO. 😛

    If they go for Guinness, THEN I’ll fight.

  7. Bobnormal Avatar
    Bobnormal

    One thing we still have in California are Great Breweries, as Frank noted Sierra Nevada Makes the best Pale Ale in the World!Torpedo! San Marcos has Stone Breweries and Arrogant Bastard Ale, did I mention I like ales? 🙂
    Bob

  8. ThomasD Avatar
    ThomasD

    Haven’t had a Beck’s in years. Try Spaten as a suitable alternative.

    Hoegaarden is only good for making ginger shandies anymore. Haven’t noticed a difference in Bass, but I rarely drink it now.

    As far as big name breweries are concerned most of what I drink comes from New Belgium.

    Corona never had any way to go but up.

  9. Bob Mulroy Avatar

    Somebody had to mention Rolling Rock. I’m going to cry now.

    Most cities of over 2-million population in China have their own brewery, and the beer can stand up against Tsing Tao any day. Anhauser-Busch used to own 30% of Tsing Tao and certainly taught them cutthroat marketing. It’s very hard to find any non Tsing Tao product in most places.

    When Schlitz started to be brewed by accountants, my Grandpa figured somthing was wrong with his tongue, and quit drinking altogether.

  10. Bram Avatar
    Bram

    I like Yuengling and have always despised Bud. I hope they stay independent.

    But the beer industry consolidation doesn’t bother me in the least now that the Prohibition era laws on small breweries are mostly gone.

    Making beer isn’t like building cars or microchips. As soon as big conglomerate buys up a brewery, sell the stock – the next Sam Adams will take their customers with ease.

  11. SeanM Avatar
    SeanM

    Fyi to Kathy Kinsley. Guinness Extra stout is being brewed in Canada under Diageo distribution.
    @thomasd Spaten is owned by InBev as well sad to say