Peru: Peru

The world's largest beer maker, InBev, is already at loggerheads with Colombian-owned Backus & Johnston, which has had a monopoly on the Andean country's market, however InBev has not even launched its beer in Peru, Reuters posted on May 17.

Backus' owner, Bavaria, scored a preliminary victory last week after Peru's consumer watchdog recognized the shape of its bottles as a trademark and told the newcomer it could not copy them.

AmBev, InBev's Brazilian unit, had been planning to use similar 1.3 pint (620 mililiter) amber bottles -- the most popular size here. It had hoped the two companies' bottles could be interchangeable. It is appealing the watchdog's decision and said it would still launch its beer this month. AmBev has plastered Lima with teasing ads announcing the imminent arrival of a "new beer".

Its name -- widely rumored to be Brahma -- was due to have been unveiled at a grand launch party last weekend, but the celebration was called off at the last minute after problems with local authorities over authorization for the party site.

"We're not going to delay the launch because of this (the bottle dispute)," AmBev's lawyer Alfredo Bullard told Reuters, adding that the company had to ensure that the launch met all legal requirements.

Peru has one of Latin America's lowest per capita beer consumption rates, making it an attractive market. Backus, which has 99 percent of the market with its Pilsen, Cristal and Cusquena brands, had 2004 sales of $330 million, including soft drink sales, and made a profit last year of $76 million.

No one was immediately available at Backus or Bavaria to comment. But Backus took out a notice in newspapers on Tuesday to "welcome competition," saying it had registered its beer bottle to protect its hefty investment in its distribution network.

AmBev's arrival is expected to kick off a price war. Backus launched its new "Dorada" beer in March, priced at $0.92 for a 1.3 pint (620 mililiter) bottle -- about 15 percent lower than its other brands.

AmBev is planning to undercut that further by offering four bottles for $3.08, equivalent to $0.77 each, market sources said. AmBev lawyer Bullard declined to comment but said: "I can assure you the price of beer is going to fall."

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