Awards for Product Quality

October 2007 – At the 2007 “World Beer Awards” organised by the UK’s only consumer beer magazine “Beers of the World” Budweiser  Budvar Dark  not only came first in the dark lager category but was also awarded the title of World’s Best Lager in an event which attracted entrants from all over the world.

November 2007: - Budweiser Budvar Original  is  elected  Beer of the Year by a vox pop vote of Czech drinkers in a competition run by the Czech consumer beer magazine, Pivni Kuryr . This makes it the 12th time the brewery has won the award since its inception 17 years ago.

Awards for marketing

June 2007 – Budweiser Budvar is proclaimed a“Superbrand of the Czech Republic” along with list of the 100 most important brands here. The list was drawn up by an independent panel comprised of leading Czech and international experts in the field who made their choice from 2000 brands active in the Czech market. This list includes names as diverse as Apple, Coca-Cola, DHL, Mattoni, Microsoft and Skoda. The Budweiser Budvar brand was included in the Czech list of superbrands for the first time in 2005. The excellent worldwide reputation of the Budweiser Budvar brand has also been confirmed by the British “Superbrands” organization, which included Budweiser Budvar in it’s prestigious Coolbrands life-style list. Coolbrands”

October 2007 – In the competition FLEMA 2007, which evaluates the innovative use of media in advertising campaigns, the campaign “Pardál – Jeden z nás” (“Pardal – One of Us”) won the category “The Best Small Campaign”. .Pardal is a new Budvar brew available only in the Czech Republic.

October 2007 – The 11th Effie contest for the most effective advertising campaign  in  the Czech Republic  saw Budvar’s “Pardál campaign with its “Pardal one of us” slogan winning  the silver Effie in the competition’s foodstuff and beverages category. .

Budweiser Budvar As Mr.Nice Guy

April 2007 – Budweiser Budvar is declared the most admired company of the year in the South Bohemian region. It was also placed third in the national chart in the “Food and Tobacco Industry” category. Both prestigious charts were made up on the basis of a poll made among managers of important companies, business analysts, and representatives of professional associations. The poll was organized by the CZECH TOP 100 association for the ninth time.

April 2007 – Budweiser Budvar is declared the third best employer in the South Bohemian region. The South Bohemian brewery achieved this accolade in the 4th year of the AXA competition “Employer of the Year”. The competition is organized by management consultants Fitcentrum and is the only event of this kind in the Czech Republic. This year saw more than 30 important employers from each region nominated for the competition.. The judges included top human resources managers and specialists in employee benefits.

Sales results
In total
Total beer production in 2006 was up 5 percent year on year and it amounted to 1,152 million hectolitres. Budweiser Budvar has a  5,8 percent share of the domestic beer market. Amongst domestic brewers, Budweiser Budvar confirmed its position among the largest:

Company                                                             Volume   Share

Export

Budweiser Budvar has been exporting beer virtually since its 1895 start-up. Its beer won a golden medal at Stuttgart in 1897 and it was exported to places as far apart as Venice, Alexandria and the Japanese city of Kobe by the end of the 19th century. Beer brewed by Budweiser Budvar was sold in the USA as early as 1906.
In 2006 Budweiser Budvar exported the largest amount of beer in its 112-year long history when 556 000 hectolitres were exported to 50 countries. This means a year ion year increase in export of 8 %. This result has been made possible by substantial growth in sales in the brewery’s most important foreign markets – i.e. in Germany, Great Britain, Slovakia and Austria. It was also the export of dark lager, which contributed to the increase, as five times more year on year. Exports now amount to 48 %t of the total production of the brewery.

Budweiser Budvar is the third largest beer exporter in the Czech Republic (share 15,7 percent).

The growth in export continued  in the first half of 2007 when Budweiser Budvar achieved t a year on year increase  of 11,29 %. In total 291 770 hectolitres were exported. The increase was substantially influenced by the countries Russia, Germany, Austria and Slovakia where the export increased by 12,3 %. The demand in these markets includes mainly Budweiser Budvar Pale and Dark Lagers with the exception of the Slovak Republic where draught beer and non-alcoholic beer form an important part.

Domestic market

In 2006 Budvar sold 597 000 hl of beer on the domestic market – a year on year increase of 3,3 %–  double the 1.7% in the sector as a whole.. The sales of non-alcoholic beer increased substantially by 41 percent and the sales of bottled beer increased by 27 %.

The growth continued in 2007. Budweiser Budvar sold 10,85 %  more beer on the domestic market in the first half of 2007 than in the same period of 2006. This is an almost four times better result than the market average. According to the estimate of the Czech Association of Brewers and Maltsters, the Czech beer market increased in this period by only 3 %. Budweiser Budvar brewed 319 737 hectolitres of beer for the domestic market. Sales of Budvar’s non-alcoholic beer  increased the most – by 55 percent.

Economic results
In 2006 Budweiser Budvar, N.C. achieved great results. The gross profit increased by 15% to CZK 267,2 million in total. The equity was increased by 7% CZK 3,788 milliard.

Investing in our future

In the course of 2006 about CZK 260 million was invested in the development of the brewery and these investments continued in 2007 at a similar rate.

February 2007 –Investments in packaging and filling lines increase multi-packaging options as well as doubling existing outputs.
 
June 2007 – Budweiser Budvar begins the operation of a completely unique technology for non-pasteurized beer distribution developed entirely by the brewery.. Development and manufacturing costs including two beer distribution vehicles amounted to CZK 8 million. The system is based on special thermally insulated 10hl beer storage tanks designed to keep the beer cool for at least 24 hours. The containers are filled in the brewery under sterile conditions and they are transported by trucks to Budvar’s distribution centres located throughout the Czech Republic. One truck may transport up to 16 such containers. In the distribution centre the beer containers are reloaded to an adjusted delivery van, which is also equipped with a pumping device and a sterile hose. The container is connected by the hose under sterile conditions directly to the Duotank in the cellar of the restaurant or pub. Transferring the beer from the container takes only 12 – 14 minutes. The total weight of a fully loaded delivery van including beer is 6 tonnes. The system is controlled by a microprocessor and it is undemanding as far as technical handling is concerned. The new method enables distribution of this type of beer into restaurants in city centres whilst maintaining the quality and freshness of the beer during transportation. Other advantages include reduced transport costs and time savings when pumping  beer into  the cellar.
 

Grand Strategy

 January 2007. Carlsberg Croatia takes over the distribution of Budweiser Budvar Pale and Dark Lagers in Croatia in both on- off-trade.
 

January 2007, Anheuser-Busch and Budweiser Budvar announce an alliance, in which Anheuser-Busch becomes the U.S. importer of Czechvar Premium Czech Lager. The agreement gives Czechvar, currently sold in the majority of American states, access to Anheuser-Busch’s marketing and sales expertise and wide-reaching U.S. distribution network. The agreement will broaden Czechvar’s U.S. distribution by giving it access to the Anheuser Busch network of nearly 600 independent wholesalers. Imported European brands are one of the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. beer industry up 7% in 2005 and 10% for three quarters of 2006.. The agreement does not impinge on existing litigation or trademark disputes between both breweries in other countries. Both parties have agreed the cooperation cannot be used to support either side in any trademark cases.

January 2007, Budweiser Budvar and the Finnish company Oy Sinebrychoff Ab from the Danish Carlsberg Group announce they have signed an agreement for sales and marketing of Budweiser Budvar beers in Finland. The Sinebrychoff´s range of beers includes two high-quality Budweiser Budvar beers: Budweiser Budvar Premium Lager and Budweiser Budvar Premium Dark Lager.

March 2007, Budweiser Budvar launches a new pale draught beer under the brand name “Pardál” onto the market. Budvar called on 300 Czech beer enthusiasts to develop the new brew which is not likely to be exported having been designed for a very specific Czech niche.
 
April 2007 – Budweiser Budvar enters into cooperation in Sweden with Carlsberg Sverige to sell Budvar here.

May 2007 – Budweiser Budvar, N.C. dispatches first beer to Korea.  The possibility to enter the Korean market occurred in 2004 when it finally acquired the trademark “BudÄ›jovický Budvar” and the right to use the trade name (the manufacturer´s denomination) “Budweiser Budvar, N.C.” after an eight-year trademark dispute. The brewery says that the further delay in starting the business was due to the complexity of this market.

June 2007 – Budweiser Budvar enters into an agreement for importation and sale of the Premium Carlsberg Lager in the Czech Republic with the Danish brewer.

20 August 2007 – Carlsberg Srbija started to distribute Budweiser Budvar original Czech Premium Lager in the territory of Serbia.
 
October 2007 –  Carlsberg Bulgaria starts to distribute  Budweiser Budvar Original.

Trademark Victories

April 2007 –  Budweiser Budvar  achieves another important success in the defence of its trademark rights in the European Union when the Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market rejected the Community trademark application “Budweiser” filed by Anheuser Busch in 1999.

16 May 2007 – The Hungarian Supreme Court issues final decisions in favour of Budweiser Budvar in two pieces of litigation concerning appellations of origin “BudÄ›jovické pivo” and “ÄŒeskobudÄ›jovické pivo”. Thus, it finally dismissed the appeal of the Anheuser Busch Company, which had endeavoured to revoke the protection of these appellations in Hungary since 2001. Moreover, the Supreme Court confirmed the protection of both denominations in  three languages ruling that not only the Czech originals but also the German, English and French language versions be  protected in Hungary.
Budweiser Budvar has been very successful in trademark disputes in recent years. In the period 2000 – 2006, 86 legal disputes and administrative proceedings with ABI were closed with final decisions. Budweiser Budvar won 69 cases, 5 drew and lost 12.

895 start-up. Its beer won a golden medal at Stuttgart in 1897 and it was exported to places as far apart as Venice, Alexandria and the Japanese city of Kobe by the end of the 19th century. Beer brewed by Budweiser Budvar was sold in the USA as early as 1906.

In 2006 Budweiser Budvar exported the largest amount of beer in its 112-year long history when 556 000 hectolitres were exported to 50 countries. This means a year ion year increase in export of 8 %. This result has been made possible by substantial growth in sales in the brewery’s most important foreign markets – i.e. in Germany, Great Britain, Slovakia and Austria (there was no success in Russia – minus 5 percent interannually). It was also the export of dark lager, which contributed to the increase, as five times more year on year. Exports now amount to 48 %t of the total production of the brewery.