just-drinks authors and correspondents

Columns by Stephen Beaumont

Comment - Beer - Beaumont's Brews

Award-winning writer and author Stephen Beaumont gives us his monthly thoughts on what is keeping the global beer industry busy.

Articles by Stephen Beaumont

Do consumers know about beer terminology as well as you do? - Comment 30 August 2018

When a brewer talks about the value category, does the consumer understand what is meant? How about premium? Super-premium? And, what about craft? just-drinks' beer commentator, Stephen Beaumont, considers whether these terms mean as much to consumers as they clearly do to the global brewing industry.

---

Are beer festivals worth the time and expense it takes to participate in them? - Comment 26 July 2018

As July gently turns to August, we enter what must be considered the heart of beer festival season.

---

What is beer's biggest problem? - Comment 26 June 2018

A trip to Belgium earlier this year provided some home truths for our resident beer commentator, Stephen Beaumont: While brewers have done well to break out beyond the traditional flavour brackets, they are coming unstuck on getting these under the noses of most consumers.

---

What can the brewing industry learn from Anheuser-Busch InBev? - Comment 29 May 2018

If there is a single overriding lesson to be learned from just-drinks' analysis of Anheuser-Busch InBev's performance over the last five years, it is one more obvious than a pint of IPA at a Champagne tasting. Put bluntly, that lesson is: Global expansion + cost reduction = increased profitability.

---

Why a growing craft brewer isn't always a takeover target – Comment 17 May 2018

Last month, the US trade organisation for craft brewers, the Brewers Association, released a most interesting list. just-drinks' resident beer commentator, Stephen Beaumont takes a closer look at the chart of the fastest-growing US craft brewers in 2017.

---

What can the beer industry learn from Molson Coors? - Comment 5 April 2018

Without question one of the more interesting drinks companies to watch over the past few years has been Molson Coors. From the 14% drop in sales posted in 2015 to the boost provided by the acquisition of the 58% of MillerCoors it didn't already own in 2016, from the surprisingly-high cost savings of US$200m in 2017, to the loss in share price value of 21% during the same year, the past half-decade has been nothing short of a rollercoaster for the world's third-largest brewer by value and fifth-largest by volume.

---

What can the beer industry learn from Carlsberg? - Comment 22 March 2018

If the principle lesson learned from just-drinks' analysis of Heineken's performance in the last five years is "don't panic", the overarching theme of Carlsberg's last half-decade of struggles might be the even more clichéd "don't put all your eggs in one basket". Said basket being, in this case, Russia.

---

What can the beer industry learn from Heineken? - Comment 6 March 2018

Heineken has released its 2017 results and, despite the generally-depressed state of the global beer market today, the group reported some very positive trends. It therefore merits consideration with an eye towards what others in the brewing business and, indeed, the drinks industry, in general, can learn from the world's number two brewer.

---

What's coming up in beer in 2018? - Predictions for the Year Ahead - Comment 23 January 2018

Our 2018 category previews continue. Here, beer industry commentator Stephen Beaumont shares his predictions on how the brewing world will weather the year ahead.

---

Why Asia is the latest front in the craft beer battle - Comment 23 November 2017

We're off to Asia with beer commentator Stephen Beaumont this month. Vietnam, to be specific, with the country serving as an example of how the continent is becoming the next battleground for beer's higher-end players.