The Best Beer Company in a Better World - Anheuser-Busch InBev

6 | Annual Report 2008 Anheuser-Busch : The story so far
Anheuser-Busch : The story so far
Heritage
• Anheuser-Busch traces its origins back to the Bavarian Brewery
in St. Louis, which was established in 1852.
• In 1860 the struggling brewery was acquired by Eberhard
Anheuser, a successful soap manufacturer, who later teamed up
with his son-in-law, Adolphus Busch. The company was later
renamed Anheuser-Busch .
• Through innovative marketing and new technologies - among
them the introduction of pasteurization and artificial refrigeration -
they transformed the local brewery into an industry leader.
• Budweiser was the brewery’s first national beer brand,
introduced in 1876. Twenty years later, Busch introduced
Michelob, America’s first specialty beer.
Operations & Investments
• By 2008 Anheuser-Busch operated 12 breweries in the U.S.,
15 in China, one in India and one in the U.K.
• Budweiser is also locally brewed in nine other countries outside
the U.S. under the direct supervision of Anheuser-Busch
brewmasters. They are: Argentina, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan,
Panamá, Russia, South Korea and Spain.
• Equity investments include a 50% direct and indirect interest in
Mexico’s Grupo Modelo, owner of the global Corona brand.
Brands
• Anheuser-Busch’s passion for beer and commitment to quality
have allowed the company to offer a diverse range of beers and
beverages, loved by consumers in the U.S. and around the world.
• The company produces more than 100 beers including the
Budweiser, Bud Light and Michelob brands, and offers a dozen
non-alcoholic brews and soft drinks.
• Budweiser and Bud Light are two of the three largest-selling
beers in the world.
• Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob ULTRA, Busch, Natural Light and
O’Doul’s each hold the number one positions in their respective
U.S. market segments.
Beer in the U.S.
• Beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage in the U.S. which has
an 83% share of alcohol on a liquid basis, but a 56% share of
alcohol beverage servings. The U.S. is the world’s largest profit
pool for beer, and in 2008, Anheuser-Busch had a market share
of 49.2% of this market.
• The distribution system for beer is different from most other
countries. After prohibition was repealed in 1933 a three-tier
system of alcohol beverage distribution was established, in
which producers sell to wholesalers, who then sell to retailers.
At the same time, the ability to legislate in relation to the
regulation of beer was delegated to a state level, leading to local
legal variations.
• Despite being a developed market, the U.S. beer market has
shown consistent growth over the past generation, with stable
pricing. Over the past five years compound annual growth has
been running at around 1%.
‘Anheuser-Busch brewmasters have some of the highest quality
standards in the industry. From selecting the finest, all-natural
ingredients, to tasting the final beer, a rigorous and detailed quality
assurance program is followed wherever Budweiser is brewed -
to guarantee that each bottle, can or keg of Budweiser is the highestquality
beer possible, and that every Budweiser has the same
refreshingly drinkable taste, wherever it is sold.’
Brewmaster, St. Louis Brewery