Published: July 19, 2008 04:59 pm            

Mark Bennett: Foreign ownership of the U.S’s most famous beer is less a sign of the apocalypse than a look at the norm

An earthquake. A flood. A recession. $4-a-gallon gas. Layoffs. Flying insects everywhere. And now the last straw …

Our frosty Buds have gone Belgian.

Inside the 7th & Elm Bar and Grille, Kevin Titsworth shook his head about the situation as he munched on a burger, fries and a soft drink. “It’s hard to see an American icon taken away from us,” said Titsworth, on his lunch break as a territory manager for a Fishers, Ind., foodservice company Thursday. “It just doesn’t seem right to have Anheuser-Busch outside the United States.”

The maker of Budweiser — the beer whose red, white and blue label proclaims it the “Great American Lager” — sold for $52 billion in a takeover bid by Belgian brewer InBev last week. InBev CEO Carlos Brito insisted Anheuser-Busch’s 12 North American breweries would remain open, and indicated any changes would involve nothing more major than a selloff of undisclosed “non-core assets.”

And Bud will taste the same.

“What consumers care is that their Bud will always be their Bud, and that’s what we’re committed to — not only the product, the quality, the beer, but also the heritage, the breweries, who brews the beers, and everything that’s connected to the breweries,” Brito told the media from Brussels.

In the heartland, including Terre Haute, beer drinkers won’t notice a thing about the brew that conjures up images of Harry Caray, downtown St. Louis, talking frogs, Bud Light girls and the Clydesdales, said Tom Dever, general manager of Dever Distributing in Terre Haute.

“From what Mr. Brito has said, why change a successful thing?” said Dever, whose company is marking its 25th year as a distributor for Anheuser-Busch, the nation’s largest beer producer.

“It’s still brewed in America, made by Americans, and distributed by Americans,” Dever added. “[The sale] doesn’t really change much. … We’re still going to be here, selling beer.”

The foreign ownership of the United States’ most famous beer is less a sign of the apocalypse than a sign of the times.

“Everything seems to be foreign made. It’s become a trend,” said Cyle Watts, having lunch Thursday afternoon at the Ballyhoo Tavern at Ninth and Chestnut streets in Terre Haute. “I never imagined Budweiser being foreign [owned].”

In Indiana, nearly 140,000 Hoosiers work for companies whose ownership is at least 50 percent foreign-based, according to a study released this year by Indiana University. Japan tops the list of foreign-owned firms in this state with 31,600 jobs, thanks to Toyota, Subaru and Aisin. The United Kingdom ranks second, employing 26,700 Hoosiers at, among others, Rolls Royce, BP and Dexter Axle. And 26,400 Hoosiers work for German firms, including DaimlerChrysler, Bayer and Adidas (Onfield Apparel Group).

Foreign employers account for 4.4 percent of Indiana jobs, the IU report said.

The beermaker deal that creates “Anheuser-Busch InBev” embodies the expansiveness of foreign ownership of U.S. firms. InBev was already the result of a merger between Belgium’s Interbrew and Brazil’s AmBev. InBev’s management team is primarily Brazilian. Now, they’ll be calling the shots for Budweiser and scores of other Anheuser-Busch labels such as Busch, Michelob, Natural Light and more brands.

Watts lives in Brazil — Brazil, Ind., that is. He works for an Indianapolis-based wine and spirits distributor, but previously spent 10 years as a Budweiser driver and sales rep. Last week’s announcement that Belgians had become Budweiser’s owners shocked him a bit.

“They’re American-made. Big union. They usually gobble up other people,” Watts said of Anheuser-Busch, “and to see that happen to them is surprising.”

In a different booth at the Ballyhoo, delivery man Joe Bland studied some paperwork and wondered if Americans realize how many of the products we consume are actually foreign owned or made. “There may be other businesses that we don’t know about,” he said. “If it weren’t public knowledge and everything stayed the same, who would notice?”

At least a few Americans, who consider their beer’s origins a measure of patriotic value, might care.

Ted Miller sees the situation from a unique perspective. He’s an Indianapolis native and principle owner of an American brewery — the Vigo Brewing Group in Terre Haute — that makes Belgian style beers under his Brugge label. Miller is also president of the Brewers of Indiana Guild, an organization of nearly two-dozen makers of craft brews — a small, but booming segment of the national beer market.

There’s only a slight chance the Anheuser-Busch sale will impact breweries like the one in Terre Haute, Miller said.

“It’s not going to effect brewers on our scale at all,” Miller said, “except for those people who revolt.”

Some drinkers, even those loyal to Bud and Bud Light, could switch in protest. To them, the idea of their beer money going overseas leaves a bad taste in their mouths.

“The only good thing it does [for small brewers] is it makes Samuel Adams, which is closer to [the wilder Brugge styles] than any other, the No. 1 American [owned] beer,” said Ted Miller, who is not connected with another U.S. beer giant, Miller Brewing.

Wait, did that say, “U.S. beer giant”? Actually, a South African firm now owns Miller Brewing. Also, Coors — the third branch of America’s suds triumverate — is owned by Molson of Canada. And those two global brewers have merged their U.S. divisions into one.

All of that makes it tough for a beer fan to follow the money.

This latest deal opens up even more world markets to Budweiser and other Anheuser-Busch products, and could heighten the U.S. availability of InBev’s brands such as Stella Artois, which is Belgium’s No. 2 selling beer. The No. 1 seller in that tiny country, with a 600-year brewing history, is actually InBev’s Jupiler, which is lesser known that Stella Artois in the U.S.

Even if those gain popularity here, it’s hard to imagine any massive cultural shifts. Harry Caray never would’ve broke into a Cubs telecast to say, “Time for an ice, cold Jupiler.”

Titsworth probably spoke for legions of Bud and Bud Light loyalists when he said of the sale, “I’m not happy about it. I just hope they don’t change the beer at all. I have fond memories of going to Anheuser-Busch [in St. Louis] — even before I could drink, seeing how beer is made, going to Grant’s Farm, and seeing Auggie Busch’s name on the [Cardinals’] Stadium.”

Ah, our national pastime and big-league baseball.

Wait a minute … who owns the Seattle Mariners?

Mark Bennett can be reached at mark.bennett@tribstar.com or (812) 231-4377.

        

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