Viterra’s shareholders passed a special resolution to approve the arrangement between a wholly owned subsidiary of Glencore International plc and Viterra Inc. under which Glencore will acquire all issued and outstanding common shares of Viterra for C$16.25 per share, in cash, the company announced. The resolution was approved by 99.8% of the votes cast by shareholders.… >>>>

United Breweries Ltd on Thursday announced that its net profit fell by 82.5% year-on-year to Rs 7 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2012. United Breweries’ sales revenue however, increased to Rs 955 crore for the fourth quarter compared to Rs 840 crore during the same period in previous year. For the full … >>>>

Molson Coors (UK & Ireland) has made Carling Zest, the limited edition summer lager from Carling, available on draught. The move follows a £2 million marketing campaign for the drink which was launched at the beginning of May. Carling Zest draught is available nationwide across independent on trade and multiple fascia’s within the M&B estate … >>>>

Reinforcing its position as the leader in American craft beer promotion and education, the Brewers Association (BA) and its Export Development Subcommittee have selected Andreas Fält to cover Europe as an American Craft Beer Ambassador within the BA’s Export Development Program (EDP). “Andreas’ appointment comes at an exciting time for American craft beer export market … >>>>

Molson Coors UK has completed the demolition stage of the obsolete maltings facilities at its Burton brewery. The site has now been cleared to make space for a new state of the art energy centre, the company said. During the 120 day exercise a total of 16,000 tonnes of rubble and approximately 1,500 tons steel … >>>>

Diageo, the world’s leading premium drinks business, has reached agreement with Ypióca Agroindustrial Limitada to acquire the leading premium cachaça brand, Ypióca, and certain production assets. The consideration is BRL 900 million (approximately £300 million) in cash and the transaction is expected to complete in a month. The acquisition is expected to be EPS neutral … >>>>

GrainCorp is investing approximately $20 million in improvements to its country network, to improve efficiency and intake speeds for the peak periods of next harvest. “GrainCorp is strongly committed to continuous improvement of the services we offer our grower customers,” Group General Manager, Storage and Logistics, Nigel Hart said.

“We’ve handled two consecutive big harvests … >>>>

Established in 1993 and amongst others sponsored by GrainCorp, the Australian International Beer Awards Competition is more and more popular every year. It is now the third biggest professional beer competition in the world. This year’s AIBA results were announced in Melburne. The awards are given only to those beers that are in accordance with … >>>>

Compañía de Cervecerías Unidas (CCU), the largest Chilean and the second largest Argentinian brewer, reports a consolidated volume growth of 8.8% in the first quarter of 2012 considering an increased competitive environment in most of its segments. “Nevertheless, we are not satisfied with the 7.0% increase in the normalized EBITDA of the first quarter, which … >>>>

SABMiller plc, the world’s second largest brewer, on Thursday reported its preliminary (unaudited) results for the twelve months to 31 March 2012. The company’s Lager volumes of 229 million hectolitres (hl) are 3% ahead of the prior year on an organic basis with particularly strong growth delivered in Latin America and Africa. Soft drinks volumes … >>>>

The South African Breweries on Thursday announced strong increases in group revenue, operating profit and margins in the year to end March 2012. SAB’s revenue grew 4% year-on-year to US$5.815bn (8.7% on a constant currency basis), EBITA increased by 9% to $1.168bn (14.4% on constant currency basis), EBITA margins improved by 100 basis points to … >>>>

Miller Brands, SABMiller’s UK subsidiary, has delivered lager volume growth of 8% in the 12 months to 31 March 2012, despite a declining UK lager market. Much of this growth is the result of Miller Brands’ premium portfolio which has been a significant driver behind the popularity of World Beer in the UK. Peroni, Pilsner … >>>>

Antonio Simoes, Namibia Breweries Limited’s Market Manager for Angola & Mozambique says that Angola is a key buildingblock in NBL’s export strategy. “Angola is currently the third largest clear-beer market in Africa, and is showing above average growth. There is a great opportunity for NBL’s 100% Pure Beer in the Angola market, from the nature … >>>>

ThaiBev, Thailand’s leading beer and spirits maker, for the first quarter ended 31 March 2012 for its beer business reports sales revenue was Baht 8,860 million, an increase of 8.7%, mainly due to an increase of sales volume and an increase in net sales price. Total sales volume of beer was 166.8 million litres, an … >>>>

A cocktail of generally oversold wheat markets, lower EU27 wheat forecasts, on-going rumours of dryness in southern Russia, the US southern Plains, South Australia and northern China but principally speculators craving for fresh information adds up to the weather market which have send wheat prices soaring end of last week, RMI reports this week in … >>>>

On the grain exchanges a sharp upwards correction. While everybody believed that the future supply situation, especially in wheat and corn, will be absolutely rosy, mainly in the Northern hemisphere, participants kept a closer eye to the weather maps lately, Grainexx says in its  market report today.

Everybody was happy with the early and advanced … >>>>

GrainCorp has announced an improved first half result, driven largely by higher earnings from storage, handling and ports activities. GrainCorp’s EBITDA increased by 36% to $235 million (HY11: $173m). The company’s NPAT was up 39% to $122 million (HY11: $88m). GrainCorp will pay a fully franked interim dividend of 15 cents per share (cps) plus … >>>>

Bralirwa Ltd, Heineken’s Rwandan subsidiary, delivered a strong performance in 2011 with earnings growing by 41.9%. The company’s revenue grew by 23%, supported by a combination of higher volumes, increased pricing and improved sales execution in a buoyant market. The brewer’s volumes increased by 16.3% driven by strong growth of all beers and soft drink … >>>>

A very strong first quarter in 2011 on the one hand, and poor weather conditions coupled with low consumer confidence in the first quarter of 2012 on the other hand, are the causes of a slower turnover growth, Belgian brewer Duvel Moortgat reported. This growth is mainly realised abroad.

Rising prices of raw materials, higher … >>>>

China Resources Enterprise, Limited announced its unaudited financial and operational review for the three months ended 31 March 2012. The Group’s beer division recorded turnover of HK$5,778 million for the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 17.9% over the corresponding period last year. Despite the low temperatures recorded in most China regions in March … >>>>