Executive Summary Grolsch, a company with a strong history and a highly rated product, has just been purchased by SABMiller. The company is evaluating its global strategy in light of the acquisition and determining how to position and sell its beer going forward. Grolsch has positioned itself well to compete internationally and has leveraged several tools (e.g. the MABA framework, strategic analysis) to effectively expand abroad. However, they must assess whether or not the MABA framework is still useful, what type of international strategy they should pursue (i.e. developed vs. developing markets), and if their adaptation strategies will continue to be an asset in their business development. The initial conclusion, detailed below, …show more content…
Meanwhile, since Grolsch used other brewers for distribution while importing beer into foreign countries, the ongoing industry consolidation often led to a need for changing distributors. In several of their markets Grolsch was already on its third or fourth distributor in the span of 15 years. Besides the political, economic, and logistical issues Grolsch had to adapt to, they also were adapting to cultural differences. Their marketing campaigns would vary significantly from market-to-market. While their ability to be nimble, change strategies, and adapt where necessary has been a benefit, it has also been limiting in that Grolsch has struggled to build a consistent brand image and market position in several of its key markets. For example, even though the UK accounted for 25% of Grolsch’s volume, they still only held 1.5% of the UK market. Further, operations have been impacted by the consistent turnover of distributors in several important markets. Grolsch’s adaptation strategy has kept them nimble but has prevented any large scale and stability in certain countries outside the Netherlands.
The right international strategy for Grolsch going forward is a transnational strategy, though there are strong elements pushing this toward a global strategy. In reviewing strategy within the beer industry, either generally or through frameworks (see exhibits), it appears the optimal path currently involves both multi-domestic elements and global
Such cross border deals have provided significant benefits to the brewing giants. This has given them ownership of local brands propelling them into dominant market positions around the world as global brands sell at significantly higher prices and the margins are much better as compared to the local beers.
The next project was bottling Gordon Biersch signature beer and retailing it. This had three biggest challenges: this project was entirely Gordon’s baby and demanded time and attention; secondly the freshness of the bottled beer versus the freshly brewed was an issue for which they decided the beer would have a shelf life no longer than three months. Thirdly and the most exciting challenge was the head-to-head competition with other microbreweries and premium beers. Despite the tough competitive environment, Gordon Biersch aimed to achieve 11% of the market in three years (by 1996). This retail venture required huge investment, thus they decided to start small to prove to the investors that they could pull it off.
GBBC’s competitive advantage was product differentiation of both its restaurant and beer. The beer had a good brand image because it was fresh and high quality compared to the alternatives available in the market. The restaurant served only home brewed beer that gave it a premium perception. The restaurant was German style, moderately priced dinning and high quality and served trendy cuisines. GBBC chose the restaurant location strategically and modified the restaurant, while keeping the basic idea intact, to meet the preferences of local customers.
Throughout most of its history, the Coors Brewing Company (Coors) has been a regionalized brewer within the United States, specializing in high-quality beer through by virtue of its source water selection, stringent production standards, and cold filtered brewing approach. As the company expanded its distribution to new markets within the U.S. in attempt to gain market share, it made a strategic decision to maintain a majority of its brewing operations at its primary production facility in Golden, Colorado. This decision was based upon the desire to preserve its core production strengths through close family control. However, as the company desires to expand its market presence beyond the
Q.1 Why did Grolsch Globalize and how well has it performed internationally? Reasons for Global Expansion: Grolsch faced less demand in Netherland (Home) to its products in 1970’s. At the same time its rivalry Heineken was moving impressive in an international market. Grolsch acquired German brand called as Wickuler due to which the capacity of Grolsch was doubled. Grolsch also bought Ruddles, UK brand to create distribution network for its own brands. In 1990, Eastern Europe started opening up which resulted an investment in Poland & Russia. Although Gorlsch acquired aforesaid brands Wickuler was sold to to another German brand
New Belgium has received many awards for it continued performance of environmental sustainability (“The Brewery with,” 2003). Before global expansion, it would be smart for New Belgium Brewery’s marketing directors to travel overseas and engage with the beer drinkers in different countries before global expansion. Also, by interacting with consumers overseas, New Belgium Brewery can determine which beers need to be sold overseas. The marketing directors for New Belgium should not automatically try to sell every brand of beer they carry overseas. If they try to do this, they will more than likely lose
The Company must revisit objectives and goals and look into available resources (partnerships). At an external level, facing competition from other types of craft brew products. The Company needs to assess competitor’s strength and weaknesses, gathering data which in turn may provide a “loophole” for New Belgium to target the competitor’s market share. The Company will gather information of potential new customers. Figuring out why do customers select competitor’s product over theirs or what customers want, as tastes and trends are always changing. There will always be regulatory laws and social propaganda of “drink responsibility.”
iii. Import beer companies: These companies include Beck’s(Germany), Heineken (Holland) and Corona (Mexico). They control about 12% of the region’s market. However, these companies are seen to operate at disadvantage due to higher shipping costs, weaker distribution networks and an inability to control product freshness
This strategic report analyses several different factors in regards to Cobra Beer. The analysis was focused on the UK market and beer industry. The first section of the report looks at analysing Cobra Beer’s external environment via a microenvironment analysis. It accomplishes this in the form of a PESTEL and Porter’s 5 Forces analysis. PESTEL was examined in regards to the Beer industry and it looked at several issues, and analysed the critical issues in detail. Porters 5 forces looked at the industry’s sources of rivalry. Issues and problems were viewed for both with solutions seen at the end of the report. The external environment subsequently concluded that the beer industry is a very attractive but not a profitable one, as it’s comfortable to enter but tough to construct profits.
The situation can even explode for Export Brands International, as large beers conglomerates with tremendous power, are targeting the same segment and are creating similar beers. We have the real example of Anheuser-Busch new Bud Light Lime which was selling extremely well in the United States attacking Corona position and following the traces of the
Craft Beer and its breweries have been defined as “Small… Authentic... Honest and Independent (not more than 20% owned by a brewing company … that is not a craft brewery.)” (Watt, 2013) All markets can be very complex and unpredictable; there is often not just one sole driver of performance in relation to a particular Product, Firm or Industry. Developing on this I will be analysing the contributing factors that drive the market for Craft Beer in the United Kingdom. In relation to this, I will be looking at a specific company within the industry, BrewDog.
The beer industry in the United States is continually changing and therefore companies in this industry must be versatile. Their versatility comes in a variety of forms, from changing their product offering, to changing their strategic goals, and finally, recognizing opportunities and threats. This paper explores many aspects of the industry though the use of Porter's five forces model. I will analyze the internal rivalry present in the industry, any buyer or supplier power that is present, entry barriers that exist, and any substitutes and threats that face the industry. Furthermore, I will closely analyze the effect that craft brewers and microbreweries have had on the industry. It is my contention that craft brewers have
Problem identification: The global beer industry was experiencing increasing competition due to the new and potential mergers and acquisitions of
Manag Int Rev (2011) 51:179–192 DOI 10.1007/s11575-011-0071-6 R e s e a R c h a Rt i c l e
Despite the dominance of Carlsberg, in its annual report BGD could lay claim to being the largest Scandinavian beer exporter. This was because Carlsberg placed emphasis on licensing agreements or local production for its foreign markets, while BGD’s strategy was export led: ‘Eighty-three out of every hundred bottles of beer that we produce are sold in foreign markets.’ By 1995 the percentage of export sales by region of the world was as follows: western Europe 63 per cent, the Americas 10 per cent, eastern Europe 22 per cent, others 5 per cent. The development of BGD’s operations in some of these markets is now reviewed.