Sudsy American dream sells abroad(1)
The King of Beers is quenching thirsts abroad, even as it sweats about lost sales on its home turf.
Bloomberg News
Bud is poured at a beer festival in Qingdao, China, where sales are up.
Budweiser's sales volume outside the U.S. soared 20% in 2011, the second straight year the iconic American brand has posted double-digit growth abroad, part of an increasingly successful global expansion push by Anheuser-Busch InBev NV .
On the downside, however, the Belgium-based brewing giant also confirmed Thursday that Budweiser's volume in the U.S. shrank for the 23rd straight year in 2011, as low-calorie beers and small-batch brewers continue swiping drinkers. Budweiser was eclipsed last year by Coors Light, the new No. 2 by volume in the U.S., behind Bud Light.
The rapid growth of Budweiser in markets ranging from Canada and Brazil to Russia and China has tilted Budweiser firmly back into positive territory globally, a bit more than three years after InBev acquired St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch in a $52 billion deal creating the world's largest brewer.
Executives say the brand's global "Grab Some Buds'' marketing campaign launched in 2010 is translating well abroad, part of a game plan to sell what they call "the American Dream in a bottle'' by celebrating optimism. Once the best-selling beer in the U.S., Budweiser is among the most storied of American brands, tracing its roots back to 1876.
"I think one of the greatest things America has branded is the notion of the American dream,'' said Jason Warner, Budweiser's global vice president.
On Thursday, AB InBev reported that its overall revenue rose 4.6% to $39.05 billion in 2011, even as North American dollar sales inched up only 0.3%.
