Beverage

Campari Group posted record results in 2019, including revenues of €1.84 billion (+5.9% on 2018), EBITDA of €479.8 million (+10.9%) and net profit of €308.4 million (+4.1%).

In one of the best results ever reported by the Dutch brewer, Heineken posted 6.6% organic revenue growth in 2019 to €23.89 billion along with a 3.1% increase in consolidated sales volumes.

Japanese group Suntory Beverage & Food has invested €15.6 million (£13 million) to install a new line at the Lucozade Ribena Suntory site in Coleford, UK, which produces beverages tailored to the UK market, including the Lucozade Energy, Lucozade Sport and Ribena brands.

The Fonte Regina Staro mineral water plant in Valli del Pasubio has reopened after a five-year period of closure.

Meta Abo Brewery, the Ethiopian subsidiary of Diageo (UK), has invested US $14 million in the expansion of its Malta Guinness non-alcoholic malt drink production and bottling plant in the town of Sebeta.

Coca-Cola is preparing for yet another investment. This time it has set its sights on France, where the multinational (The Coca-Cola Company and Coca-Cola European Partners) will invest 1.1 billion euros over the next 5 years.

With sales of 100 million bottles, 10% turnover growth and an export share up 25%, Sorgente Valcimoliana (the Cimolais, Pordenone-based water bottling company that owns the Acqua Dolomia brand) met all its targets in the 2019 financial year.

Danish Brewing Company East Africa, a subsidiary of US firm Bounty Global Management Company founded in 2015, will begin production of Carlsberg, Tuborg, Holsten and Kronenbourg beers in Kenya.

A study conducted by International Wine & Spirits Research (ISWR) has revealed strong global growth in organic wine consumption, in marked contrast to the wine industry’s overall downward trend.

Health-consciousness, sustainability and convenience are the three trends perceived by Mintel as determining the dynamics of global innovations in the non-alcoholic  beverage segment.

The Sanpellegrino group has signed an agreement to sell the Beltè brand to Refresco Italy (Spumador and Recoaro), a company owned by Dutch beverage multinational Refresco.

The Swiss group Nestlé has decided to cease independent operation of its mineral water arm Nestlé Waters and integrate the various brands (San Pellegrino, Levissima, Panna and the French brand Perrier) into the group’s three geographical zones: America; Europe, Middle-East and North Africa (EMENA); and Asia-Oceania-Sub-Saharan Africa.

Through its Brazilian subsidiary, Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group has acquired the Sao Paulo-based coffee producer Café Pacaembu Ltda, well known for the Café Pacaembu brand and owner of a production site equipped with cutting-edge technology for the production of ground coffee and capsules.

During the C40 World Mayors Summit (Copenhagen, 9-12 October 2019), the world’s fifth largest brewer Carlsberg unveiled two new prototypes of the Green Fibre Bottle made from sustainably sourced wood fibres.

Cedral Tassoni, the historic Italian company based in Salò, has announced that it will invest more than €2 million to complete expansion and renovation work on the factory where it produces soft drinks (including the famous Cedrata), liqueurs and syrups.

Molson Coors Brewing Company, an American multinational and market leader in the production of numerous varieties of beer, has opened a new brewery and distribution centre in British Columbia, Canada following an investment of US $226.4 million.

In August this year, Diageo (UK) announced the acquisition of a majority shareholding in fellow British firm Seedlip, a world leader in the expanding field of distilled non-alcoholic spirits.

On 7 September, Coca-Cola HBC Italia inaugurated the new aseptic production line for bottling non-carbonated beverages at its plant in Nogara (Verona).

Greater animal welfare, a drastic reduction in the use of plastics and anti-waste initiatives are the three objectives that the Granarolo group has set itself for the three-year period 2019-2021 to address sustainable development goal 12 (responsible consumption and production) in the UN’s 2030 Agenda.

Campari is continuing its efforts to strengthen its rum business, a category that is at the heart of the new mixology trend.