BIZCHINA / Overseas Investment
Anheuser-Busch to expand Budweiser sales
(Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)
Updated: 2007-03-20 15:41
Anheuser-Busch Cos., the largest U.S. brewer, said it plans to double the
amount of Chinese cities where it sells its Budweiser beer over the next
five years from 100 now.
Anheuser-Busch hopes that more consumers in China, the world's largest
beer market by volume, will switch to Budweiser and other more expensive
brands, boosting the firm's presence in the more profitable premium
segment, its country head said.
"Anheuser-Busch thinks the growth potential of the Chinese premium beer
market is huge," YR Cheng, managing director of Anheuser-Busch Greater
China, was quoted in a statement as saying yesterday.
"We believe more and more Chinese consumers are able to, and want to,
enjoy higher-quality beer."
The Budweiser brand claims only a tiny 2 percent of the overall market in
China, but 40 percent of the premium brand segment, according to the U.S.
brewer.
The company said it would increase distribution and support in China for
Corona, the beer made by Mexico's Modelo, in which Anheuser-Busch holds
half of the shares.
China is a key battleground for rivals such as Anheuser-Busch and
Britain��s SABMiller Plc. as the average Chinese downs only 24 liters of
beer a year, well below the average American's 80 liters.
Anheuser-Busch, which also counts Danish brewer Carlsberg among its
rivals in the country, however, estimates that Chinese consumption will
double within a decade and is expanding into China��s smaller,
county-level cities.
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