BeerBlast: The Inside Story Of The Brewing Industry’s Bizarre Battles For YourMoney
is a history of the beer industry in the late twentieth century. Philip van
Munching, the book’s author, was once the advertising director at his family’s
company, the former US importer of Heineken (HEINY) (HINKF). Though the book
was written almost two decades ago, I feel it still offers valuable insights,
both for those interested in investing in the alcohol industry, as well as for
investors in general.
In
my opinion, the most important lesson of Beer
Blast is how dramatic the beer industry’s history has been. Alcohol
companies have been portrayed as safe, “defensive” investments. The common
wisdom is that they do well in any environment because demand for their
products is persistent. That may be true, but Van Munching’s account
demonstrates how even such defensive companies can be surprisingly chaotic. Defensive
companies are often driven to innovate, change, and try to grow as much as
their more volatile peers.
Beer Blast shows one
example of this tendency by depicting the beer industry’s quest for new,
disruptive products. When I read the book, I felt this pressure to innovate was
stronger than I had expected of a “defensive” industry selling a product with
an ancient history like beer. The book also shows how Anheuser-Busch (BUD), the
leader in the US beer industry, has used its market position to be successful in
this quest for product innovation. (Read More)
