Anheuser Busch, one of the world’s oldest and largest brewers, is facing stiff competition from a number of global rivals. The company has found itself facing increasing pricing pressure as craft beer makers challenge its traditional market share.
Global giant InBev is Anheuser-Busch’s most prominent competitor, since InBev also owns a number of large international beer brands including Budweiser and Stella Artois. In recent years InBev has successfully increased its presence in markets around the world such as South America where it now competes directly with Anheuser-Busch for customers.
Molson Coors is another major rival of the American brewer. Molson Coors produces popular beers such as Coors Light and Carling, which are distributed across Europe and North America. The company has a deep legacy in Canada; having merged with Quebec-based brewer Molson in 2005 to become a larger entity that could more effectively challenge its competitors globally.
The popularity of craft beers has seen an increase in new microbreweries springing up all over the United States especially, competing increasingly with Anheuser-Busch offerings by offering unique flavour combinations and individualised service to their local customer base. Craft breweries have experienced double digit growth year on year since 2011 ate least according to industry reports and this trend is likely to continue well into the future given the current appetite for alternatives to big-name beers like Budweiser or Corona.
This increased competition means that Anheuser Busch must continue to innovate if they wish to remain competitive in this increasingly crowded marketplace. This includes introducing new products that meet changing consumer demands, engaging more thoroughly with digital marketing platforms, engaging more actively with local communities, and launching more collaborative projects designed to support small businesses. Otherwise the brewery could be faced with diminishing returns over time as smaller rivalries go head-to-head for increasingly smaller slices of market share globally.
