Anheuser-Busch InBev is a multinational company that offers different drinks and brewing. The company originated from Leuven, Belgium with some of its main offices in New York, London, Mexico, and Johannesburg. The company aims to provide high-class brewing products to its customers with exceptional quality (AB In Bev, 2019). The company is one of the fastest growing beer companies in the US by employing more than 300,000 employees in different countries. To provide an understanding of the company regarding the current global beer industry position, Porter’s five forces analysis is conducted with respect to the global beer industry
Competitive Rivalry
Due to massive growth and size of the industry, there are several competitors providing tough competition to each other by producing massive amounts of beer and successfully able to convince the customers. The global beer industry has grown from 1.3 billion hectoliters of beer to 1.93 billion hectoliters from 1998 to 2011 (Globe Newswire, 2016). AB in Bev is the global market leader with a production of more than 10 million barrels of beer per year. Heineken comes at 2nd spot with production and sale of around 8.5 million barrels of beer and it is the market leader in the European beer industry. China Resources Snow Breweries is the third largest in the world and the biggest in China with a production of 20 million kiloliters. Carlsberg, Molson Coors Brewing, Tsingtao Brewery Group, Asahi, and Yanjing are some other global competitors producing the beer at large volumes ultimately intensifying the competition in the global beer industry (Technavio Blog, 2019). Keeping in view the level competition, the competitive rivalry is the global beer industry is high.
Bargaining Power of Suppliers
Smoked malt, organic malt, wheat malt, hops, and yeast are some of the major raw materials for beer production. These are the basic products with no exceptional differentiation and available in abundance. The number of suppliers is large and the buyers that are the companies of beer production can bargain with different suppliers to get the best terms for the purchase. The continuous increase in government taxes has also put pressure on the suppliers to control the cost (Morgan, 2014). The companies are in a dominant position when it comes to setting contracts for purchasing. Therefore, the bargaining power of suppliers for the global beer industry is low.
Bargaining Power of Buyers
The bargaining power of consumers in the global beer industry is high due to two major factors. One is the number of options available to buyers as buyers can shift easily from one brand to another brand. The second reason is the standardization of the basic product provided by all companies in the beer industry. There is no massive differentiation between the products of different brands that make it easy for customers to switch. The customer of the beer industry switches easily as the brands are offering almost the same product and there are multiple options for buyers to choose from (Spáčil & Teichmannová, 2016). These two factors are the significant contributors towards increasing the bargaining power of buyers in the global beer industry.
Threat of New Entrants
This is an industry that provides high barriers to the companies that are wishing to enter the market. The regulations regarding the operations of the beer business along with massive taxes make it difficult for investors to start a business in the beer industry. The tough competition with a lack of differentiation in the products is other major reasons that increase the barrier for new entrants in the industry (Swinnen, 2011). The presence of these barriers ultimately decreases the threat of new entrants for the already existing player of the industry.
Threat of Substitutes
The increasing awareness regarding the negative impact of beer on the health of consumers is making it difficult for companies to keep the consumers. The people are becoming health conscious and they are trying to find a substitute for the beer. There are several other substitutes for beer such as soft drinks, energy drink, and juices as they all fulfill the need of thirst and taste. There has been a large share of consumers that are using the substitute products and the increasing awareness along with the availability of multiple substitutes is always a threat for the beer industry at the global level (Swinnen, 2011). Therefore, the threat of substitute for the global beer industry is high.
References
AB InBev. (2019). What we do. Available at: https://www.ab-inbev.com/what-we-do/beer-brewing.html
Globe Newswire. (2016). Global Beer Market – Industry Analysis, Competitive Insights, and Key drivers; Research Report 2016 – 2024. Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/27/globe-newswire-global-beer-market–industry-analysis-competitive-insights-and-key-drivers-research-report-2016-a-2024.html
Morgan, J. (2014). Supplier support: Building strong relationships is key to brewery success. Available at: https://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/business-marketing/supplier-support-building-strong-relationships-key-brewery-success/
Spáčil, V., & Teichmannová, A. (2016). Intergenerational analysis of consumer behavior on the beer market. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 220, 487-495.
Swinnen, J. F. (Ed.). (2011). The economics of beer. OUP Oxford.
Technavio Blog. (2019). Top 10 Largest Beer Companies and Beer Brands in the World 2019. Available at: https://blog.technavio.com/blog/top-companies-global-beer-market