by BENJAMIN DANGL
On a pleasant autumn day in 1890 the Cuauhtémoc brewery was founded in Monterrey, Mexico. This brewery, which also specialized in ice production, went on to become Mexican Economic Development Inc. (FEMSA), brewing such beers as Dos Equis, Tecate and Sol. Recently the Dutch brewing giant Heineken bought FEMSA, bringing over half of the world’s beer production into the hands of just four mega-corporations. One Mexican columnist wrote of the merger in La Jornada, “Just a bit more globalization and we will all be lost.”
The concentration of beer production into the hands of a few brewers is reflective of what is happening in economies across the globe. Homogenization of culture and the centralization of wealth and power naturally follow corporate globalization. Though the recent merger in Mexico is emblematic of this profit-driven trend, homegrown examples of grassroots alternatives have emerged in the kitchens and coca fields of Colombia and Bolivia.
Riding the Beer Wave of Consolidation
A number of major beer company mergers have taken place in recent years, the largest being Belgian-Brazilian InBev’s purchase of Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion in 2008. According to the Wall Street Journal, this “wave of consolidation in the global beer market” has “put pressure on smaller brewers to find larger homes.” Heineken purchased FEMSA, the brewer of just under half Mexico’s beer, for $5.7 billion.
Jean-François van Boxmeer, the chairman and chief executive of Heineken, said this purchase will help his company become a “more competitive player in Latin America, one of the world’s most profitable and fastest-growing beer markets.”
Business Times reporter Chew Xiang met van Boxmeer at the company’s Singapore office on a rainy day in December. Though cold beer was available at an office bar, van Boxmeer chose to drink coffee instead as he was recovering from a long flight. The executive told Xiang, “In the niche of premium international brands, we want to stay number one in the world. And in each market, we want to be number one or number two.”
The Devil Fernández and Bolivian Coca Leaves
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