InBev - Premium Brand Beverages for Cruise Ships

The world's largest brewer by volume, InBev, has had another very successful year in the cruise industry. InBev's global premium brands Beck's®, from Germany, and Stella Artois®, from Belgium, were the key drivers for this success supported by the speciality beers such as like Bass Ale® and Boddingtons®, which also showed good growth.

"Our brands are very successful and well known in the US and Europe, therefore the consumer who comes on board of a cruise ship asks for these beers." says Jörn Köhnenkamp, Area Director Travel Retail from InBev Market Development (IMD). "Fortunately, our brands have been available on board for a very long time i.e. Beck's was first introduced on the Hapag Lloyd ships in 1882." he added.

The InBev Market Development Department was created in 2003 when Interbrew (now InBev) bought Beck&Co, the leading German export brewery, for the coordination and management of all export businesses and travel retail activities worldwide.

In 2004 Interbrew, the world's third-largest brewer, and AmBev, the world's fifth-largest brewer, came together and created InBev. InBev has a portfolio of more than 200 brands, including Stella Artois, Brahma®, Beck's and Leffe®.

Today the company holds the number one or two position in over 20 key markets – more than any other brewer. InBev employs some 77,000 people, running operations in over 30 countries across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. In 2005, InBev realized 11.7 billion euro revenue.

CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES CHOOSES STELLA ARTOIS

One of InBev's global brands, Stella Artois, was listed recently by Carnival Cruise Lines in the US. "The first sales figures are very promising" says Köhnenkamp. This was not a big surprise to him as more and more passengers asked for Stella Artois being the fastest-growing imported premium beer by volume in the US in 2005.

Last year InBev enjoyed a growth in cruise business of more than 20%. We see two reasons for this trend. On the one hand, there is the growing number of cruise ships and the expansion of this industry and on the other hand, there is the investment InBev made in tailor made promotion for the cruise ships.

ONBOARD DRINKS PROMOTIONS

"For example, this year, we will focus our promotions on the crew" says Köhnenkamp, "As they are both ambassadors for the brands and consumers when they are off duty." Recently, we delivered Beck's branded football merchandise (i.e. football tables, balls, shirts and glasses) to the ships, enabling the international crew to play their own football championships on board.

We made a very good start in 2006: Carnival UK (P&O Cruises and Ocean Village) and InBev entered into a three years contract, making InBev their sole supplier for draught beers.

"Carnival UK has been selling draught Stella Artois and Boddingtons for over two decades and we are very happy that our strong brands and good service have convinced Carnival to continue our relationship", says Jörn Köhnenkamp.

SPECIALITY BEERS - HOEGAARDEN AND LEFFE

InBev is also known for its speciality beers such as the Hoegaarden® white beer and Leffe, the famous abbey beer from Belgium. Leffe - recently added to InBev's existing global brands Stella Artois, Beck's and Brahma - will now be served on board MV 'Ocean Village', as a test project.

The beers that are typically marketed on cruise ships are lager and pils beers. But, as speciality beers enjoy good growth in the more mature beer markets in Europe, we want to offer them on the cruise ships as well.

Leffe Blond was chosen because of its perfect fit into the very relaxing but classy atmosphere of the 'Oval' pub on board of the MV Ocean Village. Leffe will be served in the traditional Belgian way with a chalice glass and by bar staff trained in the pouring ritual for Leffe. Information distributed to the cabins will inform the passengers about the availability of this exquisite beer and the free tasting sessions.