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The 10 biggest beer brands

EMCSEMCS Member Posts: 4,063
edited September 2012 in General Discussion
The 10 biggest beer brands

You might be surprised by the biggest beer brands worldwide.

Sure, Budweiser and Heinken have spots on the list, as expected. But there's also a selection of international beers just now becoming popular in the U.S.

And just try to guess the top beer label as ranked by trade publication the Drinks Business - it's one that most Americans have never heard of

But while mainstream labels still dominate the market, beer from small and independent makers are outperforming them.

Through the first half of 2012, dollar sales for craft brews are up 14%, according to the Brewers Assn. industry group. As a whole, beer companies saw sales slip 1% in 2011.

10. Asahi Super Dry
( Asahi screen grab / September 26, 2012 )
Japanese brand Asahi Super Dry is now available in more than 50 countries and sold 12.3 million barrels last year, up 2.5% from 12 million barrels in 2010. Owner Asahi Group Holdings saw its beer shipments fall overall last year, but the company still holds a 38% share of the Japanese beer market, beating out Kirin Holdings Co.

9. Brahma
( Brahma / Anheuser-Busch InBev / September 26, 2012 )
Brahma may be brewed by Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev, but the brand is all about South America and its Brazilian roots. Last year, 17.4 million barrels of the beer were sold, down 3.4% from the year before. Brahma was first made available in the U.S. in 2005. In September 2011, Brahma unveiled a new can called the Copaco, or Big Cup, which allows drinkers to pull back the entire top of the container to create a mug of sorts. This year, the BrandZ database ranked Brahma as the eighth most valuable global beer brand, with a value of $2.4 billion.

8. Miller Lite
( Miller Lite screen grab / September 26, 2012 )
Miller Lite's position, buoyed by the 18 million barrels sold last year, underscores the strength of light beer. The beer is produced by Chicago-based MillerCoors, a joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors Brewing Co. The Miller Lite brand is valued at $2.3 billion, according to BrandZ.

7. Coors Light
( Coors Light screen grab / September 26, 2012 )
Coors Light is now the second-largest beer brand in the U.S., displacing Budweiser with sales of 18.2 million barrels last year, according to the Drinks Business. That's a 25% boost from 2010. Coors Light has been an official sponsor of NASCAR since 2008, when it kicked Budweiser out of the position. Actor Jean Claude Van Damme is a spokesman for the brand in Britain.


6. Heineken
( Skyfall / Heineken screen grab / September 26, 2012 )
Dutch brand Heineken had a strong year, selling 26 million barrels last year, a 4.8% boost. James Bond will drink a Heineken brew in the upcoming film "Skyfall" and in ads for the beer brand. The company said last year that Heineken volume in the first half of the year grew 6%. But while the brand's business in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas was strong, the company said sales in Western Europe "is expected to remain subdued" through the rest of the year "owing to the challenging economic conditions." Heineken is a $6-billion brand, the third most valuable in the beer industry, according to BrandZ.

5. Skol
( Skol Facebook / September 26, 2012 )
Without being big in the U.S., Skol has managed to sell 29.5 million barrels worldwide in 2011. Otuside of Africa and South America, the label is owned by Carlsburg Breweries in Denmark. BrandZ considers Skol to be a $4.7-billion brand. It is the leading beer name in Brazil and is available in more than 80 countries.

4. Corona Extra
( Corona Facebook screen grab / September 26, 2012 )
Corona sold 30.4 million barrels of beer last year, a whopping 9% improvement on 2010. With its new advertising campaign this summer, the brand is now the largest outdoor beer advertiser in the world, according to the Drinks Business. The brew is made by Mexican company Groupo Modelo, whose parent is now Anheuser-Busch InBev.

3. Budweiser
( Budweiser / September 26, 2012 )
There's been a big to-do about whether craft brewers are gaining on Budweiser, but few brands can boast 38.7 million barrels sold last year. The 4.5% sales jump was helped along by a 20% surge outside the U.S. last year. Budweiser, long dubbed the "King of Beers," has been trying to regain its street cred in recent years, turning around slumping sales and weakening market share. Jay-Z recently headlined the brand's Made In America Music Festival in Philadelphia. Budweiser is also pitching several limited-edition beers based on U.S. ZIP codes and crowd-sourced recipes.

2. Bud Light
( Bud Light Facebook screen grab / September 26, 2012 )
An $8.4-billion brand, Bud Light last year sold 45.4 million barrels. But despite being the best-selling beer in the U.S., the brand saw a 4.4% sales slump worldwide. Earlier this year, Bud Light Platinum was released. The brew has 6% alcohol and 137 calories, putting it squarely between Bud Light and Budweiser.

1. Snow Beer
( Snow Beer / September 26, 2012 )
The biggest beer brand in the world is one that most Americans would be hard-pressed to name. But Snow Beer, a product of a joint venture between China Resources Enterprises and SABMiller, sold 50.8 million barrels last year.The pale brew is far and away China's top beer -- residents drank 16.5 billion pints of it last year, according to the Drinks Business. The nation's beer market has boomed in the past five years, growing 29% in volume and 63% in value.
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