Thanks
Sandra Dalene VanAlstine

The people working for Anheuser-Busch should expect some drastic changes to their culture. When InBev merged with the Brazilian company the culture in the Belgian head office [and other places] most certainly changed.

I expect to see more commercials in Belgium to sell Budweiser, although to be frank, it doesn’t have a stellar reputation for quality.

What seems to be more important as a trend here is that the waning economic power of the US opens it up to foreign investments [read: buy-outs]. Budweiser will no longer be American, the Chrysler building is owned by a Dubai company [for at least 75%] and the Dollar is weakening.
I don’t think this will be the only American icon finding itself in foreign hands.
Actually, if the Dollar goes even lower than it is now [and chances are that it will be] I might be tempted to make an offer on Harley Davidson. I happen to like Harley Davidson. I cannot possibly be the only one.

From a profit perspective a bid on Anheuser-Busch makes good sense. I would be more interested in buying a lot of micro breweries. I have had the wonderful pleasure of tasting a wide variety of craft beers in New England. Although it was abundantly clear that many of them are not quite in balance, there are those that have plenty of potential and some of them are exactly where they need to be.
A craft brewery can’t be all that expensive to buy and the right beer will be a hit anywhere. Not everybody can buy MegaBrew but there is very decent money in a line of beer that has its own character.
Moortgat for instance, the makers of Duvel, are not interested in selling their brewery [and why should they]. Every brewer who makes a good, honest product will find a market and a good profit. The quality of the product is the decisive factor. Even InBev had to give in and return Hoegaarden to Hoegaarden because the guys at the Jupille plant couldn’t make a reliable brew. It must have been something in the air .

The consumer will not notice any change [maybe there will be less commercials at the Super Bowl?], Budweiser will always be the same.
I hope the taste of the customer does change though as microbrews achieve greater brand recognition. It’s a much better product and it is a great building block of a thriving culture.

It’s a lot more fun too .