When you think of Wisconsin, what are some of the products
that immediately come to mind? Cheese is undoubtedly at the top of the list, as
is Green Bay Packer Football - and to complete the trifecta, beer. Brewing beer
in Wisconsin has roots that go back to when the state was still a territory,
and is a heady part of the Wisconsin culture. Generations worked in the
breweries in Milwaukee, dominating the industry with Miller, Pabst, Schlitz,
and Blatz. Times have changed, however, and the majority of the macro-brews
have shut their doors. One exception to the changing times, however, is Miller
Brewing Company.
Frederick Miller originally founded Miller Brewing in 1855. The
Miller family owned the brewery until 1966. Over the next few decades, the
brewery changed ownership a few times, but always stayed in the hands of
American investors. That was soon to change, however. ABInBev, whose global
headquarters is located in Leuven, Belgium, ABInBev, acquired the company from SABMiller,
a company headquartered in South Africa, in 2016. Now, through a merger with MolsonCoors
and being purchased by ABInBev, the company is larger than ever, and is
expanding its market share worldwide while retaining production of the famous
beer in Milwaukee. That certainly is a mouthful to swallow…if you will excuse me
I think I am a little thirsty. Thanks for reading!
More information on Miller Brewing can be found here.
More information on Miller Brewing can be found here.
Very interesting since I would have considered ABinBEV as having a monopoly in this industry. Even though there is a lot of micro brewers the number of percentage of breweries owned by ABinBEV is substantial.
ReplyDeleteI guess in the end they did not have to divest...I think I heard on NPR they would have somewhere around 80% of the "american" beer market. Interesting maybe it's considered more like an oligopoly?-Sacha B.
ReplyDeletePabst is also coming back to Milwaukee. Though it's not brewing on a large scale basis (only 4,000 barrels/year), it'll be great for the city to have Pabst back!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/beer/2017/03/02/pabst-milwaukee-brewery-open-mid-april/98606826/
I would agree with previous posts that this company is becoming a monopoly, but being they are based in Belgium they have to follow the monopoly laws of that country not ours. It is nice to see so many small breweries springing up all over the state. I live less than six miles from one and they produce some great beer. Very interesting post.
ReplyDelete