American Craft Brewers Are In Trouble

Or so says James Koch, the head of one of the largest American craft brewers, Boston Beer Company. His argument is that the feds have allowed two companies, Molson Coors and AB InBev, to buy so many domestic craft brewers that they now control 90 percent of domestic beer production. These acquisitions have resulted in 6 percent increase in beer prices and the loss of 5,000 American jobs.

Other countries have not treated the two brewing giants as well.  China required AB InBev to sell its $1.6 billion stake in China’s largest brewer back to the Chinese government at a bargain-basement price. South Africa required guarantees of lifetime employment for its citizens, and the Monopolies Commission in the European Union required divestitures by SABMiller and AB InBev to keep their new, combined market share to 9 percent.