Anheuser-Busch InBev, Sued Over Watered-Down Beer

 

Anheuser-Busch isn’t owned by an American company anymore, when did that happen?

Anheuser-Busch brewer of American classic beers such as: Budweiser, Stella Artois, Beck's, Bud Light, Busch Beer, Michelob, Natural Light, and Shock Top. Anheuser-Busch famously known for the Budweiser Clydesdale's was acquired by InBev in 2008 for approximately $70 a share that’s about $52 billion in cash money (Market Watch).  

Who is InBev?

InBev is the product of a 2004 merger between the Belgian company, Interbrew and the Brazilian company AmBev. Essentially, Anheuser-Busch is now owned by a Belgian and Brazilian multinational conglomerate, which has operations in North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Central & Eastern Europe, and Asia Pacific (inbev.com). There are over 200 different brands under InBev globally. The current President of Anheuser-Busch is Luiz Fernando Edmond and InBev’s CEO is Brazilian native Carlos Alves de Brito.

 

 

What is this Law Suit About and What does it mean for International Operations?

Nina Giampaoli and John Elbert residents of Sonoma County California filed a law suit against Anheuser-Busch InBev earlier this week stating that, “alleging the company waters down Budweiser and other beers "significantly" to boost profits” (CNN.com). CNN did their own alcohol content testing and found less than 1% differences between what is in the beer and what is printed on the label. Anheuser-Busch has denied any wrong doing and has launched an ad campaign with their canned water that the company donates to the American Red Cross and disaster relief organizations worldwide every year. According to the lawsuits lead lawyer Josh Boxer in a statement about Anheuser’s bottling practices; “These alcohol readings, taken six times a second as the finished product is bottled, will confirm the allegations made by the growing number of former employees who keep coming forward to tell us the truth…" (ibtimes.com). this law suit is in the beginning stages and I am uncertain what the implications will be on Anheuser-Busch InBev if the records find that they have been watering down their beer.

 

I believe that if it is happening in U.S. operations it is probably occurring in InBev’s facilities abroad. Perhaps this issue goes all the way up to InBev’s CEO Carlos Alves de Brito, in which case the courts in the U.S. Brazil, Belgium, and those of where each factory is located will have to deal with this “watered-down beer” issue. Each country involved has different laws governing product labeling and the some regions InBev may not have a law suit but lose valued customers instead. We will just have to wait and see what the outcome of this law suit is and if it will become a multinational suit against InBev.

 

Works Cited

Spain, William; Goldstein, Steve. Anheuser-Busch accepts $52 billion InBev offer. MarketWatch. 2008-07-14.

http://www.inbev.com/pdf/AR07_GuideBusiness.pdf

http://www.inbev.com/pdf/factsheets/USA2008.pdf

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/01/business/beer-alcohol-test/index.html

http://www.ibtimes.com/new-anheuser-busch-ad-fires-back-watered-down-lawsuit-photo-1110704

Bangladesh's Grameen Bank

Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank: a Bank for the Poor

Bangladesh is a small country located in South Asia. It is made up of seven divisions or districts; Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Rangpur, and Sylhet. Bangladesh’s economy is driven by exports in the garment industry and agriculture; they are the fourth largest producer in rice, second in jute, and fifth in tropical fruit (FAOSTAT). Bangladesh is a developing country that has a high illiteracy rate and poverty rate. There has been an increase in FDI since the institution of Grameen Bank.

Bangledeshi Women harvesting rice; tribuneindia.com

What is Grameen Bank?

Founder of Grameen Bank in 1983, Muhammad Yunus, a former professor of economics and Nobel Peace Prize winner (2006). Grameen Bank is a different kind of bank than what we are used to here in the United States, the bank is based on microfinance and micro credit and providing small loans to women and the poor allowing them to own land, and businesses to better their individual economic standing, that of their community and the country overall.

 

 Curtosy Youtube.

What is microcredit?

According to Muhammad Yunus on Grameen-info.org; “microcredit is  activity-based through conventional or specialized banks (such as, agricultural credit, livestock credit, fisheries credit, handloom credit, moneylender's credit, pawn shops, loans from friends and relatives, consumer credit in informal market, etc.).” Grameen Bank’s Grameencredit is based on the same principal only that it is collateral free and has no legally enforceable contract; it is based on “trust” (Grameen-info.org)

Grameen Bank Model : Grameen-info.org

 

My Final Thoughts...

I believe that if more developing countries had a bank like Grameen bank that would lend it’s impoverished citizens that work in fields and factories receive a microloan in which to better their community, life, economy, and create local businesses then we would see an increase in global wealth and more business opportunities for those of developing countries and the U.S. among others to invest in. As an added treat here is an Authentic Bangladeshi Recipe Link, just for fun.

 

 

Works Cited:

 

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000508/7afp3.gif

"FAOSTAT 2008 by Production". faostat.fao.org. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008.

http://www.grameen.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=114