March 5, 1999 -- Canada: One of the country's "Big Two" breweries, the other being Molson, Labatt announced this week a CN$50 million expansion of their brewery in London, Ontario. The reason given for the capital investment is "impressive" growth in the brewery's exports to the United States, which are reported to have increased by close to 20% in 1998.

Of interest to all craft breweries struggling to make fiscal ends meet will be the three labellers that Labatt is installing as part of the expansion, including one made by Krones that is touted as "the fastest most technologically advanced labeller in the world." Their cost? CN$6 million.

United States: Get ready for the return to your television set of the Miller Lite debate. Except according to a company press release, instead of the old "tastes great-less filling" controversy, the debate this time will be about "why Miller Lite tastes so great."

Reviving the Miller Lite tradition of celebrities arguing over their beer, the new Miller ad campaign will feature pairs of famous folk crossing swords over why they think their favourite beer tastes so good. In one spot, for example, swimsuit model Rebecca Romijn-Stamos says that Miller Lite is so good because it's "smooth," while sportswriter Rick Reilly counters that he likes it because of the "choice hops."

The tag line for the whole campaign is "Miller Lite. The great taste of a true pilsner beer." And here I always thought that a "true pilsner" tasted more along the lines of Pilsner Urquell.

Netherlands: Despite rosy results for 1998, the share price of Heineken fell 5.4% in the wake of the company's March 3 financial report. The world's second largest brewing company reported a net profit increase of 29% to NLG981 million (EUR445 million; US$521 million), an operating profit increase of 21% to NLG1,453 million (EUR659 million; US$769 million), and a net revenue increase of 2% to NLG13,823 million (EUR6,272 million; US$7,317 million).

Nevertheless, analysts reacted tentatively to the report because of the company's hesitancy in predicting similar results for 1999. "It is not possible to make any concrete statements about the profit growth in 1999 due to the uncertain situation in some parts of the world, the anticipated foreign exchange rate fluctuations, the weather, as well as changes in excise duty and other government measures," the report states.

South Africa: In the wake of its debut---to mixed reviews---on the London Stock Exchange, South African Breweries (SAB) has taken at least one step to strengthen its position in the Namibian beer market. According to a report from the March 4 edition of The Namibian newspaper, the company has changed the name of its Namibian National Beverage Company (NNBC) to Castle Brewing Namibia. The change took effect March 1, 1999.

The new name emphasizes SAB's flagship brand, Castle Lager, the number one selling beer in Africa. According to the report, SAB uses similar names in other African nations, such as Kenya, where the brewery has made inroads. SAB is the largest brewing company in Africa and one of the largest in the world.

Despite the name change, SAB continues to be frustrated in its attempts to open a brewery in Namibia. Rival Namibia Breweries has long argued that the Namibian market is simply too small to support three major breweries, the report says.

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