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This article aims to analyse the strategies of international brewing companies in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) beer market and the development of national beer markets in the region since 1990.

The research is explorative, based on a broad variety of secondary data sources and company interviews.

The findings provide an insight into the approaches of foreign brewing companies operating in CEE markets. Despite some differences in the initial internationalisation motives, target market choice and market entry modes that reflected the strategic priorities of investing brewers, market‐seeking motives, strong brands, marketing intelligence, rapid aggressive internationalization and control over the operations have been the key success factors for Western brewers in CEE.

The secondary nature of the research information is a limitation for the validity of the study. Nevertheless, the triangulation of data sources using various secondary data, supported by in‐company interviews and authors' insights, has aimed at minimising the research bias.

Considering the growth and consolidation in the brewing industry world‐wide, brewers in CEE should focus on further mergers and acquisitions, product diversification/upgrading and brand innovation.

This paper represents an original attempt to assess the trends in the development of the brewing industry in CEE post‐1990. It reflects the impact of international interest on the CEE brewing companies and raises some concerns associated with the preservation of the brewing heritage in the region.

The purpose of this study is to examine how early-entry and process-based capability development affected firm survival during shakeout in the US brewing industry between 1938 and 1980.

Hazard analysis was conducted on US brewing industry data spanning 42 years from 1938 to 1980.

Both early-entry and later capability developments enhance the probability of survival. In addition, firms which entered early were also more likely to be the firms who continually developed capabilities across the decades.

This study contributes to our understanding of shakeout in traditional, non-high-technology businesses. However, because it is a single industry study, the ability to the generalize findings to other industry contexts is limited.

Early entry can determine survival in industries with stable products and low levels of technological change.

Policy-makers interested in competitive dynamics should take note of the historical conditions that lead to industry consolidation in traditional industries, which, while not as glamorous as the technology sector, provide the core of US industry.

Historical firm characteristics can impact industry structure and firm survival for over a century.

Looks fundamentally at the reasons for vertical integration. Specifically addresses the question of why vertical integration and close contractual equivalents have arisen in the petrol and brewing sectors of the UK. Reports the results of a comparative case study. Considers the ability of power and efficiency explanations to account for both the current pattern of vertical integration and its changes over time. Principally concludes the following: the recent history of vertical integration is better accounted for by efficiency rationales in the case of petrol and by market power in the case of brewing. Nevertheless, elements of both are present in each industry. Given the strong similarity in vertical and horizontal industry structure between these sectors, this implies that a case by case approach is preferable to a form‐based approach.

This paper aims to investigate how dynamic capabilities enabled survival in a select group of brewers, during one of the lengthiest and most severe industry consolidations in history. In doing so, we advance Abell’s (1978) theory of strategic windows through integration with the resource-based view of the firm.

Using a mixed method approach, we first apply case study methods to develop hypotheses around the timing and level of operational capability required for survival. In the second phase, we test these hypothesized estimations on the USA Brewing population.

Indicate that brewers which had advanced distribution and manufacturing operational capabilities before the strategic window of opportunity closed had higher survival rates.

This study reinforces the importance of making timely strategic investments in capabilities.

The integration of strategic window and capability theories advances our understanding of the roles that capabilities and time play in determining firm survival.

Highlights the growing impact of product liability on retailers, manufacturers, suppliers and consumers in the brewing industry. Amongst the major findings of the study are: the UK brewing industry tends to view product liability in the same way as health and safety, conform to the standards and everything will be okay – this approach considers the criminal aspects of liability but blindly ignores the dangers of increased civil activity against them; product liability problems with beer stem mainly from the packaging process where objects may have got into the bottle/can, and tampering is on the increase in the industry. Points out that brewers can protect themselves against product liability claims by ensuring technical evaluation is available on all delivered products; ISO 9000 series registration; ensuring that all products retailed are properly labelled; setting up a recall pressure plan and practising it; establishing a crisis management team and identifying the logistical support required.

With the ongoing industrial transformation of the Japanese sake industry and the continuous growth of exports in recent years, terroir, one of the core concepts in the wine culture, has been strategically used in the sake industry. Therefore, as an essential investigation, the purpose of this study is to elucidate when, how and why terroir has been used in the sake industry. This study starts with the research question: When, how and why has terroir come to be used strategically in the sake industry?

This study investigates the use of terroir in the Japanese sake industry, examining all 196 newspapers that referenced terroir from 1998 to 2022, sourced from the renowned newspaper database Nikkei Telecom 21. This study’s outcomes have been visualized through categorization work and text mining.

In this study, the use of terroir in the Japanese sake industry has gained significant momentum since 2015, with a remarkable surge observed in the 2020s. With the continuous growth in sake exports, industry players such as sake brewers are strategically structuring terroir to reinforce the authenticity of the brewing process, emphasizing the uniqueness of natural elements, such as water, sake rice and the natural environment. These findings highlight the critical role of terroir in the Japanese sake industry’s added value expansion.

This study provides objective insights regarding the recent industrial transformation for the practical sake industry, such as sake exporters and distributors. Additionally, this study enables the wine industry’s audience to understand the sake industry’s evolution in terms of wine culture.

This study aims to propose a framework for developing strategies for the supply chain of craft beer that can make the business efficient and profitable, and at the same time, generate sustainability benefits from reducing waste, conserving natural resources and reducing pollution.

Based on an extensive review of the literature of academic and industry publications, source material from craft brewers primarily situated in the USA and industry experience in craft brewing, the proposed framework describes strategies to establish sustainable craft beer supply chains.

The framework for craft beer supply chain consists of four categories that contribute to craft beer sustainability: ingredient procurement, recycling efforts, energy usage and distribution systems – some of these mimicking those used by macrobrewers. Each of the categories is further subdivided. Successful practices and examples are highlighted for each of the subcategories.

This proposed framework was built upon current practices and available literature in the USA and focused on the environmental pillar of sustainability. Further, the proposed framework arises from the fact that current best practices in sustainability were available primarily from larger craft brewers, like Sierra Nevada and New Belgium.

By paying attention to operational changes in their supply chains, craft brewers can manage costs and improve their sustainability track record by reducing waste, conserving natural resources and improving upon their pollution footprint. Craft brewers can economize in the use of water, grains, hops and yeast by using practices discussed in this paper.

This is the first time that all aspects of supply chain and sustainability considerations in craft beer production are discussed in a comprehensive manner to propose a framework for analysis and enhancement of productivity and sustainability at the same time. The fact that the proposed framework can be used in future studies to empirically evaluate the utility of various sustainability strategies adds to the originality and value of this research.

This article charts the major structural changes that have occurred in both UK brewing and pub retailing during the period 1989–2000. A key theme has been the rapid consolidation of the brewing sector in an attempt to achieve economies of scale in production, distribution and marketing. The dominance of the national brewers has allowed them to place increased product emphasis on marketing and me power of brands — particularly lager, me national breweries control all me major lager brands. In tandem with these brewers, me growth and dominance of me national pub chains has garnered apace over the past ten years and in order to maximise profit margins they have established supply arrangements with me national brewers; it has been in the interests of these chains to limit choice thereby maximising the discounts received from their suppliers. The article therefore shows that regional and local brewers cannot compete on price. Competition between pubs is also highlighted. Because beer prices are relatively inelastic, emphasis is placed on the level of amenities provided in pubs, and in particular the branding of pub outlets. Key among these amenities is the provision of food, which now accounts for a substantial percentage of total pub sales.

This paper aims to illustrate the organisational and managing models characterising the craft beer producers in Sicily (Southern Italy) and the main issues of the provision of raw materials.

A direct survey involving the overall population of 41 craft breweries operating in Sicily in 2016 was carried out. Then 29 questionnaires were collected for exploratory analysis. A hierarchical cluster analysis was also performed out to group companies by similar structural, productive and economic features.

The findings of the survey showed a Sicilian craft beer industry characterised by a substantial dependence on the import of malts hops and yeasts and the limited use of local raw materials among brewers. Furthermore, the characteristics of the processing plants and the sales channels appear to influence the diversification of the products and the turnover levels of the Sicilian craft beer producers.

This is the first study describing the craft brewing industry in Sicily. The findings contribute to enrich the knowledge on the organisational models applied in the craft beer industry. In particular, the findings could contribute to shed light on some critical issues about the provision of raw materials, suggesting possible paths for the successful development of the craft beer industry in the region.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the specific types of coopetition between small and medium-sized craft breweries and related businesses, as well as its drivers and outcomes.

Qualitative research was carried out using in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 18 different small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) combined with site visits and secondary data analysis.

The results reveal that craft breweries are engaging in coopetition in several different ways. Mutual benefit, trust, commitment, and sympathy are the crucial drivers for coopetition; whereas innovation development, market reach and marketing, as well as firm growth represent the key shared outcomes of coopetition.

This study suffers from two main limitations, including the focus on coopetition of craft breweries operating in German-speaking countries only and the risk of subjectivity in analysis and interpretation due to the qualitative, explorative nature of the research.

The findings reveal insights into the uniqueness of SMEs – specifically craft brewers – regarding coopetition, which is currently of strong cooperative nature. This study completes prior coopetition knowledge by revealing the importance of coopetition for small, micro and resource-constrained firms operating in dynamic and innovative but traditional (here craft) industries; presenting the cooperation-based type of coopetition as a good competition strategy under fierce competition from large, more established and global business rivals; and identifying sympathy as an important coopetition driver.