Anheuser-Busch

Anheuser-Busch, Inc. is the largest brewing company in the United States and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev. It holds a 48.8% share of beer sales by volume in the United States. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and nearly 20 others in other countries.

Anheuser-Busch is also responsible for the operation and maintenance of ten theme parks across the United States through the company's family entertainment division, Busch Entertainment Corporation.

History

Anheuser-Busch began as a small brewery located in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1860, Eberhard Anheuser, a prosperous German-born soap manufacturer, became owner of the struggling brewery. Adolphus Busch, Anheuser’s son-in-law, became partner in 1869, and became president when Anheuser died in 1880.

Adolphus Busch was the first U.S. brewer to use pasteurization to keep beer fresh, the first to use artificial refrigeration and refrigerated railroad cars and the first to bottle beer extensively. In 1876, Busch introduced America’s first national beer brand: Budweiser. In 1877, Busch introduced the company's first cola: King Cola.

Anheuser-Busch became the largest brewer in the United States in 1957. It today produces about 11 billion bottles of beer a year.

Anheuser-Busch International, Inc. was established in 1981, and is responsible for the company's foreign beer operations and equity investments.

Today, Anheuser-Busch operates 12 breweries and several theme parks in the United States and has operations around the world.

Acquisition by InBev

On June 12, 2008, Brazilian - Belgian brewing company InBev announced that it had agreed to a US$46 billion offer for the company.¹ If this had been successful, it would have joined two of the world's four largest brewing companies (based on revenue) and create a company that brews three of the top beers in the world, namely Bud Light, Budweiser, and Skol. InBev also stated that the merger would not result in any U.S. brewery closures and they would also attempt to keep on management and board members from both companies.² On June 25, 2008, Anheuser-Busch officially announced that they would reject InBev's offer and provide a restructuring of company to maintain shareholders and United States World Headquarters in St. Louis.³ On July 1, 2008, InBev urged Anheuser-Busch shareholders to vote in favor of the buyout as InBev felt the offer of $65 per share should be considered a reasonable offer in view of the falling stock market. The company had previously filed suit in Delaware, after the rejection of their offer, to ensure that the stockholders could oust Anheuser-Busch's 13 board members.⁴ On July 7, 2008, Anheuser-Busch filed a lawsuit against InBev to stop them from soliciting support of shareholders, stating that the company's offer is an illegal scheme. InBev is also accused of concealing that they do business in Cuba, which might have created additional obstacles to their efforts to operate in the United States.⁵

On July 13, 2008, Anheuser-Busch and InBev said they have agreed to a deal, pending shareholder and regulatory approval,⁶ for InBev to purchase the American icon at $70 per share, creating a new company to be named Anheuser-Busch InBev. Anheuser-Busch would get two seats on the combined board of directors. The all-cash agreement, almost $52 billion in total equity, would create the world’s largest brewer, uniting the maker of Budweiser and Michelob with the producer of Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, Leffe and Beck's, Bass, Labatt and Brahma. The two companies would have yearly sales of more than $36.4 billion, surpassing the current No. 1 brewer, London-based SABMiller.⁷⁸ On November 18, 2008 the acquisition was completed and the company is now known as Anheuser-Busch Inbev.

United States breweries and headquarters

North American corporate headquarters and brewery

Anheuser-Busch InBev's North American headquarters are located in St. Louis, Missouri. The brewery there, the largest of the Anheuser-Busch breweries, was opened in 1852 and includes three buildings that are listed as National Historic Landmarks. At the headquarters, near downtown Saint Louis, free tours of the brewery are available to the public. The tour takes visitors through the complex, and those of the legal age can enjoy two free glasses of any Anheuser-Busch product in the Hospitality Room at the end of the tour. Tourists can see beer being made live in front of them in hot and steamy vats in a working part of the brewery (from behind plexiglas shields).

The company keeps a rotation of its famous Budweiser Clydesdales at its headquarters, and visitors to the brewery can observe the Clydesdales in their exercise field and see their places in the carriage house. The bulk of the herd is kept at the company farm in St. Louis County. The farm, known to many a St. Louisan as Grant's Farm (having been owned by former President Ulysses S. Grant at one time), is also home to a varied menagerie of animals. The current manager of the famous Clydesdales is Benjamin Underwood.

The brewery was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1966.¹⁰⁹ The landmarked area includes 189 structures spread over 142 acres (0.57 km²), including many red brick Romanesque ones "with square crenelated towers and elaborate details."⁹ The Brew House, built in 1891-1892, is particularly notable for its "multi-storied hop chandelier, intricate iron-work, and utilization of natural light".⁹

International breweries

Overseas, Anheuser-Busch operates 15 breweries - 14 in China and one in the United Kingdom; In China, A-B operates Budweiser Wuhan International Brewing Company, Ltd. and Harbin Brewery Group Ltd which A-B fully acquired in 2004. Chinese production of AB products in China started, in Wuhan, after their purchase of a local brewery in 1997. In the United Kingdom, the Budweiser Stag Brewing Company Ltd. produces and packages Budweiser.

Budweiser is also locally brewed in eight countries outside the United States. They are: Argentina, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Russia, South Korea and Spain.

Beverage products

Anheuser-Busch's best known beers include brands such as Budweiser, Busch (originally known as Busch Bavarian Beer) and Michelob families, Bud Light, and Natural Light. The company also produces a number of smaller-volume and specialty beers, nonalcoholic brews, malt liquors (King Cobra and the Hurricane family), and flavored malt beverages (e.g. the Bacardi Silver family and Tequiza).

In addition to brewing its own beer, Anheuser-Busch also is responsible for the importation and distribution of the following international beers in the U.S.:

All of these brands can be verified by visiting Anheuser-Busch.com and clicking on the "beer brands" tab.

Advertising

The company is known in the United States for its huge advertising presence, including a sports marketing division which creates advertising material for the Super Bowl and many other sporting events. Famous Busch television campaigns have included:

Recently, Miller Brewing began a series of commercials which featured "referees" calling "penalties" on people for drinking Bud Light, and they would then take the Bud Light and replace it with Miller. Anheuser-Busch responded with their own "referees" commercials in which referees were taking people's Budweiser and keeping it for themselves.

Environmental record

In 2002, Researchers at the University of Massachusetts have ranked Anheuser–Busch fortieth in the "Toxic 100," a list of U.S. corporations most responsible for air pollution. The study found that Anheuser–Busch released 1,002,786 kg (2,213,657 lbs) of toxic pollutants annually into the air.¹⁴

Anheuser-Busch has received numerous awards for its efforts to reduce its impact on the environment.¹⁵ In 1995 Anheuser-Busch's Baldwinsville brewery won an award for pollution prevention from the New York Governor for its use of a "comprehensive, energy-producing pollution-prevention system - bioenergy recovery - to treat wastewater from the brewing process." The brewery also reduced solid waste by nearly 70 percent from 1990 to 1994. In addition, the Baldwinsville brewery found markets for previous "waste" materials used in the fermentation of Anheuser-Busch beers.¹⁶ The Anheuser-Busch Recycling Corp. recycled more than 27 billion cans in 2006, a number far greater than what was used in its own packaging. Similarly, Anheuser-Busch has set short-term goals to reduce energy consumption 5% and increasing use of renewable fuel from 8 to 15% by 2010. Along with these goals, Anheuser-Busch has succeeded in cutting down its water use by 3 % since 2002.¹⁷ Anheuser-Busch is investigating several other renewable energy possibilities such as biomass, wind, solar, and landfill gas as a fuel to reduce the company's environmental impact. The Corporation has also made commitments to decrease its greenhouse gas emissions "by 5 percent from its 2005 baseline by 2010 as part of its membership in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Leaders program."¹⁸

The brewery also operates an environmental outreach program to encourage recycling, energy conservation, and habitat preservation, as well as to prevent littering and water pollution.¹⁹ For past 18 years Anheuser-Busch employees have participated in "Green Week", which focuses on environmental conservation education for employees and their families.¹⁸

Anheuser-Busch states they do not use animal derived products, artificial ingredients, additives or preservatives at any stage of the brewing process or as part of the packaging in any of their range. All Anheuser-Busch beers are brewed using water, yeast, barley malt, hops, and sometimes additional cereal grains. Anheuser-Busch eliminates the need for isinglass finings by settling and removing particles before fermentation. The beechwood aging process also helps to attract and remove yeast from the brew before the lagering process has ended.²⁰²¹This only applies to the beers the company brews itself.

Additional subsidiaries

Anheuser-Busch and the St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals baseball club were owned by Anheuser-Busch from February 20, 1953 until the club was sold to a group of private investors on March 21, 1996. Busch Memorial Stadium, paid for and built by the brewery in the mid-1960s, was recently demolished and replaced by a new ballpark. Anheuser-Busch signed an agreement for the new ballpark to retain the "Busch Stadium" name on the new building through 2025.

Wholesalers and distributors

Corporate leadership

Dave Peacock is the current President and CEO of Anheuser-Busch. He was appointed by InBev to head the new subsidiary.

References

^ InBev Proposes Combination with Anheuser-Busch. Press release. InBev.
^ ""InBev: U.S. Anheuser Breweries to Stay After Merger", Reuters, The New York Times (2008-06-20). Retrieved on 20 June 2008.
^ "Anheuser-Busch set to snub InBev and propose own revamp", The Times (2008-06-25). Retrieved on 25 June 2008.
^ "InBev pitches buyout bid to Bud shareholders", MSNBC (2008-07-01). Retrieved on 1 July 2008.
^ "Anheuser-Busch calls InBev takeover bid illegal", Business Week (2008-07-08). Retrieved on 9 July 2008.
^ "Anheuser-Busch, Brazilian Belgian firm InBev are brewin' up a merger", New York Daily News (July 13, 2008). Retrieved on 14 July 2008.
^ De la Merced, Michael J. nytimes.com, Anheuser-Busch Agrees to Be Sold to InBev. The New York Times. 2008-07-14.
^ Spain, William; Goldstein, Steve. Anheuser-Busch accepts $52 billion InBev offer. MarketWatch. 2008-07-14.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Cecil McKithan and Stephen Lissandrello (April, 1978), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Anheuser-Busch Brewery, National Park Service, http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/66000945.pdf and Accompanying four photos, from 1895, ca. 1900, 1942, and ca. 1970PDF (1.90 MB)
^ ^a ^b "____ToBeAddedWhenNHLwebsiteBackUp____". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2008-06-22.
^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2008-04-15).
^ ^a ^b Grupo Modelo Appoints Anheuser-Busch as the Importer of its Brands in China, Anheuser-Busch Press Release, 2006. Retrieved 2008-3-24.
^ ^a ^b Anybody Watching Redhook’s Stock…, What's on tap? Newsletter. Retrieved 2008-3-24.
^ Political Economy Research Institute
^ Anheuser-Busch Environmental, Health & Safety Report
^ "NYS Governor's Awards for Pollution Prevention - Anheuser-Busch". Retrieved May 6, 2008
^ "Anheuser-Busch To Make Green Beer". Retrieved May 6, 2008
^ ^a ^b "Anheuser-Busch Employees Seeing Green" "Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire" April 11, 2008. Retrieved May 6, 2008
^ Anheuser-Busch Environmental Outreach.
^ Barnivore - Your online drink directory
^ Vegetarian beers
^ Anheuser-Busch - Business Units
^ "Anheuser-Busch Wholesalers – Beer Distributors". Anheuser-Busch. Retrieved on 2008-03-07.
^ ^a ^b "About Hensley". Hensley & Co.. Retrieved on 2008-03-06.

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