Dedicated American beer swillers may have heard about the recent sale of Anheuser-Busch to the international beer giant InBev. In a human interest story (“Anger and Dismay at the Sale of a City Treasure”, New York Times 7/16/2008) that took readers to the heart of the USA (also affectionately referred to as “flyover” country by coastal snore meisters), a reporter spoke with St. Louis blue-collar workers concerned about the future of their jobs. People expressed a sense of betrayal over the St.Louis-based company’s promise not to sell the brewery and reflected upon the imminent demise of days when a laborer could achieve the American Dream with hard work and company loyalty. Now St. Louisans must face the bitter reality that Detroiters faced years ago. Bad beer and gas-guzzlers sometimes lose in the global marketplace.
But hope is not easily quashed in the American heart and with InBev promising not to close any of its US breweries, a Teamster can dream. Better to devise Plan B, says the faux carioca. This is business. Big business.
The New York Times represents InBev as a Belgian company. While its headquarters are in Belgium, the company is truly a round table of international business sharks with Brazil serving as the biggest fish in the sea being the primary producer of Brazil’s (bad) beer. InBev was created through a merger of the Brazilian company AmBev and the Belgian Interbrew in 2004. Moreover, its CEO is the aggressive Brazilian and Stanford MBA, Carlos Brito. When he worked for AmBev, Brito was known for his tough driving market-expansion, moneymaking skills. One way he effectively cut costs was by cutting jobs. Teamster brewers are advised to check the expiration date on their benefits.
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Yowza. Too bad for St. Louis indeed. I mean, being a Milwaukeean, I have no love for the Anheuser-Busch regime, but I still privilege American-made swill over foreign swill (e.g., "Foster's is Austrayleean for shite.") (BTW, nobody in Australia has ever heard of Foster's, except via North Americans who make fun of it and then the Australians are like, 'WTF? What the hell are you talking about, mate? I've never heard of a beer called Fosters.' ). (BTW2, many Dutch hate Heineken and think of it as the beer you drink when your other liquid options are limited to sewer offal or pond muck... similar to how I feel about both Miller and Anheuser Busch's offerings. Except for Mickey's Ice - now that's a fine drink.)
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