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Bottler News

Tracking Competitor Developments

Ambev

Ambev Shifts To Aluminum Packaging For Water Products

Brazil’s Ambev SA  is expected to launch its first canned water by the end of 2019 in a nod to global trend of increased recyclability and reduction in the use of plastic containers. as consumers shift toward greener alternatives, a company executive said. Parent company Anheuser Busch InBev has begun adopting more sustainable practices. Other multinationals, such as Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo, and Nestlé, have launched canned water. Ambev will start using its breweries in the southeastern state of Rio de Janeiro to produce its water brand AMA in aluminum cans to be distributed countrywide. The canned products are likely to be sold at a lower price, despite higher costs of production than plastic bottles. More than 97 percent of aluminum beverage cans in Brazil are recycled.[Image Credit: © Ambev]

Brands

Suntory To Release Alcoholic Drink Designed To Pair With Fried Chicken

Suntory will soon make available a nine percent-ABV chuhai-style lemon alcoholic beverage designed to be consumed with fried chicken. Limited-edition -196°C Strong Zero Kaarage Fried Salted Lemon, sold only in Japan beginning in late November, pairs a salted lemon favoring from lemon-soaked liquor with fruit juice. The drink contains no added sugar but has added salt to target the savory drinks category. According to Suntory, the addition of fried chicken images on the 35 cl and 50 cl cans shows the beverage's "taste characteristics."[Image Credit: © SUNTORY HOLDINGS LIMITED]

Carlsberg

Carlsberg Is Working On Prototypes Of Wood Fiber Bottles

Danish brewer Carlsberg says it is developing paper beer bottles made with sustainable wood fibers and a coated interior that prevents seepage. The company is testing two prototypes for its Green Fiber Bottle: one with a thin layer of a recyclable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic in the interior, and the other using instead a polyethylene furanoate (PEF) polymer film that is 100-percent made from natural, biodegradable sources. Carlsberg hopes to create a bottle made from 100-percent organic materials without polymers as part of a plan to achieve zero carbon emissions at its breweries by 2030. Paper is preferable to aluminum or glass, the company says, because it’s sustainably sourced and has a “very low impact on production process.”[Image Credit: © PR Newswire Association LLC]

Companies

July Round Of Price Hikes Will Continue To Dampen Ambev Revenues

Latin America’s largest brewer, Ambev SA (Sao Paulo, Brazil) says July price hikes in its home country and largest market have dampened beer volumes and will likely hurt fourth quarter results. The company is minimizing talk of boosting operating profit this year in Brazil, where tough competition and a sluggish economy have buffeted beer sales. CFO Fernando Tennenbaum said it will take two to three months for the local market to adjust to the price hikes, so “some headwinds” will carry into the fourth-quarter. Price-cutting by competitors also contributed to a 2.8 percent drop in beer volumes in the third-quarter, and to a reduction in Ambev’s market share in Brazil.But Tannenbbaum said the price cutting behavior is “atypical” and not sustainable. Mainstream brands in Brazil, including Brahma, Skol and Antartica, were the most affected by the pricing dynamic in the third-quarter.[Image Credit: © Ambev]

Suntory

New Citrusy Gin From Beam Suntory Launches Exclusively Into Global Travel Channel

Beam Suntory-owned Spanish gin Larios has launched a limited-edition Larios Provenzal, the first global travel retail (GTR) exclusive from the 150-year-old brand, with Dufry in Spain. The gin is made using four distillations of wild juniper and a selection of fresh Mediterranean citrus fruits. It features botanicals with notes of rosemary, thyme, sage, and coriander. Larios is produced from corn to give the liquid a smoother profile, and only uses the “heart” of the distilled liquid to ensure a clearer and palatably sweet aftertaste. The company says the gin is best served with a twist of lemon, basil, tonic water, and ice.[Image Credit: © Beam Suntory, Inc.]
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