China: SABMiller plans to curb investment in nearly 40 local brands
SABMiller Plc said it plans to halt new investment in about 40 provincial brands owned by its China venture to focus on selling the premium Miller brand for the first time in the world's largest beer market, China Daily reported November 29.
"China's beer market is changing rapidly in terms of taste and consumption patterns," Humor Wang, general manager of Beijing-based venture China Resources Snow Breweries Co, said in a media briefing yesterday. The venture, 49 per cent owned by the world's third-largest brewer SABMiller, also plans to focus on marketing its Snow beer, which it now regards as a nationwide brand, he said.
SABMiller, created from the merger of South African Breweries and Miller Brewing Co, has been buying companies since 2000 in emerging markets including China and India, as people in the United States and Western Europe drink less beer. China, where people consume 24 litres of beer on average, compared with 80 litres in Europe, has lured Anheuser-Busch Cos, the world's biggest brewer, Carlsberg A/S and InBev NV.
London-based SABMiller's Chinese breweries, in 13 provinces mostly along the nation's affluent eastern coast, are owned through China Resources Snow, a 12-year-old venture with Hong Kong-listed retailer China Resources Enterprises Ltd.
The company will retain the smaller brands, while curbing investment in them, Wang said. The venture plans to expand sales of its Snow brand beer westward through acquisitions and capacity expansion, he said.
Beer sales at China Resources Snow rose 32 per cent to 4.35 million kiloliters in the first nine months of this year, giving it a market share of 15 per cent, compared with 14 per cent for Tsingtao Brewery Co, its nearest rival. Sales of Snow beer jumped 91 per cent in the same period, accounting for more than half of total revenue.
Înapoi
(libra 0.7031 sec.)