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“With the prod- uct structure consisting of Budweiser， Harbin Beer and local brands， Anheuser-Busch InBev （AB InBev） is marching swiftly in China and has brought big stress upon Chinese local beer brands，” says a senior expert in the beer market.
Size and efficiency are equally important. If the top two beer brands in China –Snow Beer and Tsingtao Beer– could not jump out of the circle， they are very likely to be caught up with and surpassed by AB InBev.
According to the AB InBev’s financial report for the second quarter of this year， the company’s revenue had a 5% year-on-year increase to US$12.2 billion. In China， the sale of beer in that quarter went up 4.6% and the figure in the first half of this year was 6.5%. Carlos Brito， CEO of AB InBev， said in the meeting of analysts that the market share of AB InBev in China was likely to rise to 15.4%.
“China’s domestic beer companies should raise their alert. AB InBev have been desiring the No. 1 position in China’s beer market for years，” says Fang Gang， an expert in the beer market.
The Stirred Market
The Chinese beer market has already had a clear structure. Local brands Snow Beer and Tsingtao Beer take the first two places. AB InBev occupies the third position and is fol- lowed by local brand Yanjing Beer and foreign brand Carlsberg. The data from China Investment Consultancy shows that the market shares of the top 3 beer brands in the first half of 2014 were respectively 23%， 17.19% and 13%. If AB InBev could increase its market share to 15%， where did it take the 2% additional share？
In the Brazil World Cup 2014， AB InBev spared no efforts in promoting Harbin Beer. Before this event， the AmericanBelgian beer brand acquired Ginsber and Big Boss Beer， two local brands with certain size in China. These acts have already revealed the ambition of AB InBev in China. A source close to a Chinese local beer brand says that AB InBev’s strategic deployment in China still brings about great impact to the local beer enterprises in spite of the established market pattern in this country. “The product structure and high-end products of AB InBev and Carlsberg give them great competitiveness in China.”
The development pattern of AB InBev in China is not unique. Interna-tionally， the company has been following the strategy of big brand and big platform featuring “expansion-integrationcost reduction-profit augmentationexpansion”.
According to the public data， AB InBev finished 18 big M&A deals from 1991 to 2014. From 1999 to 2013， the company spent US$90.132 billion on M&A in the world， three times as high as that of Heineken. “When it gets into a new market， AB InBev automatically locks its eyes on the company with the biggest market share and finishes the acquisition as quickly as possible. It could become a regional ruler with only one step，” reports Chinese local media. However， such an expansion method is not a feat for every enterprise. Even those able to make it could not make sure that the deals could bring them the effect and benefits they desire. Carlsberg， the fifth largest beer brand in China， acquired Dali Beer in Yunan， Lhasa Beer in Tibet， Usu Beer in Xinjiang， Yellow River Beer in Lanzhou and Chongqing Beer， but the data from the company shows little about the positive effect.
Take Yellow River Beer for example： in its latest half-year financial report， the company realized the sale of 450 million yuan in the first half of 2014， down 10% year on year. Its output and sales volume respectively dropped 17% and 19%. All the breweries of this company in Lanzhou， Tianshui， Qinghai and Jiuquan were jointly founded with Carlsberg as the two halve their stakes. Chongqing Beer， another local brand un- der Carlsberg’s arm， also had an underperforming first quarter with the drop in both revenue and net profits.
“It is very dangerous. The leave of Stephen Mahr from the position as CEO of Carlsberg China could reveal the impact of deteriorating business，”Fang Gang says. The underperformance in business is caused by the problems in strategies. “It is better to have all the shares of target acquired. Carlsberg only takes 60% of the stakes of Chongqing Beer. This is too hard for the company to develop this brand with its own ideas.”
There is good news for Carlsberg as Chongqing Beer is reported to plan to sell the rest of its stakes to Carlsberg before the end of this year. However， there is no confirmation from Carlsberg.
Where Is the Market？
Along with the Q2 financial report of AB InBev also came out the news that the company has taken back the operating rights of Corona Beer in China.
It is known that Corona Beer is a brand under Mexicobased Groupe Modelo. Carlsberg got the exclusive dealership of this brand in China in 2011. However， prior to that， Groupe Modelo appointed Anheuser-Busch， the company that became AB-InBeve after merging with InBev， as the imports dealer in China. In 2012， AB-InBev announced the acquisition of Groupe Modelo with the trading value of US$20.1 billion， directly turning Corona Beer into its product line.
AB InBev is glad to welcome Corona Beer back. Carlsberg says that it will increase the investment into its Tuborg Beer. The aforementioned senior beer market analyst says that the beer market in West China is still not quite valuable. Carlsberg， which has invested intensively in this area， took the dominant place there. However， this less developed market has limited market space now and could not bring Carlsberg too many benefits. “Carlsberg is seeking solutions as well，” says a source close to Carlsberg. “It is like a mysterious fortress with people inside it hoping to go out and people outside it planning to get into. In the summit of beer industry in the first half of this year， other beer enterprises also show great interest in the market of West China， which is also an alarm for Carlsberg.”
Presently， most of the competition took place in East China. “The consumers in West China are more loyal to a beer brand than the consumers in East China， but the market in East China is more open and the beer companies could make innovations in the size， brand name and bottle shape to develop the potential demand of the market，” says Zhao Yixiang， an experienced expert in the beer market.
Fang Gang also agrees with that. According to him， AB InBev’s performance in Guangdong is worthy of attention. Its canned products could bring about the annual sales revenue of 2 billion yuan there.“When local beer brands are still scratching their heads to get into the restaurants where they could earn quite a little， Budweiser and other foreign beer brands have already risen in shopping malls， convenient stores and supermarkets.”
Targeting different consumer groups with different channels and brands is the trump of AB InBev. In Zhu Danpeng’s opinion， AB InBev has products in the low-， medium- and high-end markets. The complete product line could ensure its competitiveness in every part of the market. In comparison， Snow Beer， Yanjing Beer and Tsingtao Beer could only have a few kinds of products take the dominant place in a certain sector.”
To launch more products targeting a bigger variety of consumers is also what Chinese local beer brands are struggling for. “The quality is the foundation of the products，” an insider from Tsingtao Beer says. “Our company has already launched the high-end products Artistic and Peach Beer to satisfy the varied taste of consumers. These are our strategic changes against the backdrop of upgrading consumption.”
Zhu Danpeng says that the Chinese beer market has been through three different periods. The first period featured the large number of products. The second period gave priority to the M&A with capital. Now it is the third period， which requires the subdivided markets with different products for different consumers. In that period， AB InBev is the current leader.
Size and efficiency are equally important. If the top two beer brands in China –Snow Beer and Tsingtao Beer– could not jump out of the circle， they are very likely to be caught up with and surpassed by AB InBev.
According to the AB InBev’s financial report for the second quarter of this year， the company’s revenue had a 5% year-on-year increase to US$12.2 billion. In China， the sale of beer in that quarter went up 4.6% and the figure in the first half of this year was 6.5%. Carlos Brito， CEO of AB InBev， said in the meeting of analysts that the market share of AB InBev in China was likely to rise to 15.4%.
“China’s domestic beer companies should raise their alert. AB InBev have been desiring the No. 1 position in China’s beer market for years，” says Fang Gang， an expert in the beer market.
The Stirred Market
The Chinese beer market has already had a clear structure. Local brands Snow Beer and Tsingtao Beer take the first two places. AB InBev occupies the third position and is fol- lowed by local brand Yanjing Beer and foreign brand Carlsberg. The data from China Investment Consultancy shows that the market shares of the top 3 beer brands in the first half of 2014 were respectively 23%， 17.19% and 13%. If AB InBev could increase its market share to 15%， where did it take the 2% additional share？
In the Brazil World Cup 2014， AB InBev spared no efforts in promoting Harbin Beer. Before this event， the AmericanBelgian beer brand acquired Ginsber and Big Boss Beer， two local brands with certain size in China. These acts have already revealed the ambition of AB InBev in China. A source close to a Chinese local beer brand says that AB InBev’s strategic deployment in China still brings about great impact to the local beer enterprises in spite of the established market pattern in this country. “The product structure and high-end products of AB InBev and Carlsberg give them great competitiveness in China.”
The development pattern of AB InBev in China is not unique. Interna-tionally， the company has been following the strategy of big brand and big platform featuring “expansion-integrationcost reduction-profit augmentationexpansion”.
According to the public data， AB InBev finished 18 big M&A deals from 1991 to 2014. From 1999 to 2013， the company spent US$90.132 billion on M&A in the world， three times as high as that of Heineken. “When it gets into a new market， AB InBev automatically locks its eyes on the company with the biggest market share and finishes the acquisition as quickly as possible. It could become a regional ruler with only one step，” reports Chinese local media. However， such an expansion method is not a feat for every enterprise. Even those able to make it could not make sure that the deals could bring them the effect and benefits they desire. Carlsberg， the fifth largest beer brand in China， acquired Dali Beer in Yunan， Lhasa Beer in Tibet， Usu Beer in Xinjiang， Yellow River Beer in Lanzhou and Chongqing Beer， but the data from the company shows little about the positive effect.
Take Yellow River Beer for example： in its latest half-year financial report， the company realized the sale of 450 million yuan in the first half of 2014， down 10% year on year. Its output and sales volume respectively dropped 17% and 19%. All the breweries of this company in Lanzhou， Tianshui， Qinghai and Jiuquan were jointly founded with Carlsberg as the two halve their stakes. Chongqing Beer， another local brand un- der Carlsberg’s arm， also had an underperforming first quarter with the drop in both revenue and net profits.
“It is very dangerous. The leave of Stephen Mahr from the position as CEO of Carlsberg China could reveal the impact of deteriorating business，”Fang Gang says. The underperformance in business is caused by the problems in strategies. “It is better to have all the shares of target acquired. Carlsberg only takes 60% of the stakes of Chongqing Beer. This is too hard for the company to develop this brand with its own ideas.”
There is good news for Carlsberg as Chongqing Beer is reported to plan to sell the rest of its stakes to Carlsberg before the end of this year. However， there is no confirmation from Carlsberg.
Where Is the Market？
Along with the Q2 financial report of AB InBev also came out the news that the company has taken back the operating rights of Corona Beer in China.
It is known that Corona Beer is a brand under Mexicobased Groupe Modelo. Carlsberg got the exclusive dealership of this brand in China in 2011. However， prior to that， Groupe Modelo appointed Anheuser-Busch， the company that became AB-InBeve after merging with InBev， as the imports dealer in China. In 2012， AB-InBev announced the acquisition of Groupe Modelo with the trading value of US$20.1 billion， directly turning Corona Beer into its product line.
AB InBev is glad to welcome Corona Beer back. Carlsberg says that it will increase the investment into its Tuborg Beer. The aforementioned senior beer market analyst says that the beer market in West China is still not quite valuable. Carlsberg， which has invested intensively in this area， took the dominant place there. However， this less developed market has limited market space now and could not bring Carlsberg too many benefits. “Carlsberg is seeking solutions as well，” says a source close to Carlsberg. “It is like a mysterious fortress with people inside it hoping to go out and people outside it planning to get into. In the summit of beer industry in the first half of this year， other beer enterprises also show great interest in the market of West China， which is also an alarm for Carlsberg.”
Presently， most of the competition took place in East China. “The consumers in West China are more loyal to a beer brand than the consumers in East China， but the market in East China is more open and the beer companies could make innovations in the size， brand name and bottle shape to develop the potential demand of the market，” says Zhao Yixiang， an experienced expert in the beer market.
Fang Gang also agrees with that. According to him， AB InBev’s performance in Guangdong is worthy of attention. Its canned products could bring about the annual sales revenue of 2 billion yuan there.“When local beer brands are still scratching their heads to get into the restaurants where they could earn quite a little， Budweiser and other foreign beer brands have already risen in shopping malls， convenient stores and supermarkets.”
Targeting different consumer groups with different channels and brands is the trump of AB InBev. In Zhu Danpeng’s opinion， AB InBev has products in the low-， medium- and high-end markets. The complete product line could ensure its competitiveness in every part of the market. In comparison， Snow Beer， Yanjing Beer and Tsingtao Beer could only have a few kinds of products take the dominant place in a certain sector.”
To launch more products targeting a bigger variety of consumers is also what Chinese local beer brands are struggling for. “The quality is the foundation of the products，” an insider from Tsingtao Beer says. “Our company has already launched the high-end products Artistic and Peach Beer to satisfy the varied taste of consumers. These are our strategic changes against the backdrop of upgrading consumption.”
Zhu Danpeng says that the Chinese beer market has been through three different periods. The first period featured the large number of products. The second period gave priority to the M&A with capital. Now it is the third period， which requires the subdivided markets with different products for different consumers. In that period， AB InBev is the current leader.