Foster’s chief executive Trevor O’Hoy has resigned as the Australian drinks group cut profit forecasts amid concern for its ailing wine division. O’Hoy’s resignation was accepted by the Foster’s board on June 10, ending his 33 years at the group. His departure was accompanied by a warning to the market, which saw Foster’s slash its 2008 earnings forecast from an increase of 10 per cent…

Suntory, the Japanese drinks giant, is to purchase a 50 per cent stake in the Austrian chocolate liqueur producer Mozart Distillerie. Suntory said the new partnership would strengthen its position in the global alcoholic beverages market, while building further business for the Mozart brand – which is presently sold in some 70 countries around the world. Suntory has imported and marketed Mozart chocolate liqueurs in…

The Australian vintage is better than expected both in quantity and quality, according to the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia. The WFA’s 2008 survey reveals a total of 1.83 million tonnes – double some of the early predictions. Federation chief executive, Stephen Strachan, said: “The figure of 1.83 million tonnes represents a resounding success in a challenging year and is testament to the resilience and adaptive…

Constellation has moved to slim down its wine portfolio by selling off brands to Eight Estates Fine Wines for US$209 million. The cash-only deal represents around 1 million cases of wine, and Constellation will use the proceeds to reduce debts. The Sonoma-based Eight Estates will gain several brands, including wines acquired from Fortune as recently as December 2007. Constellation chief executive Rob Sands said: ”…

Scandal-hit Italian wine region Brunello di Montalcino has elected a new president as it looks to implement new quality controls. Montalcino native Patrizio Cencioni will head the new Brunello producers’ association. His task will be to help the Tuscan wine enclave to emerge from the shadow of fraud allegations, dubbed “Brunellogate “. In a speech to association members, Cencioni said: “One of my main objectives…

SABMiller is to buy the Russian brewer LLC Vladpivo, the largest brewer in the Russian far east Primor ye region, located near the city of Vladivostok. It has an annual capacity of 1 million h l and the value of the gross assets is said to be approximately US$69 million. SABMiller says the Russian far east represents around 7.6 per cent of the Russian beer…

Ahead of national governments, beer consumer groups from 13 countries have taken the initiative to sign up to a constitution to fight the threats posed by globalisation in the beer sector. The initiative comes as InBev, already the world’s largest brewer, gears up to mount a massive takeover of the US brewing giant, Anheuser-Busch, which would give the new company a 25 per cent…