While the brewer celebrates the launch of Kozel, a Czech beer that translates as ‘goat’, to be sold through pubs in the UK, it is also embarking on a major change to the way it operates.
Nomura analyst Ian Shackleton said a recent interview with company CEO Graham Mackay suggests that the company intends to strongly embrace the “centralised” business model it initially announced last November.
This represents a move towards a more standard model for a fast moving consumer goods company. And according to Shackleton, it is no surprise that SAB Miller should, like other big brewers, be going down this route as a period of beer consolidation comes to an end.
Longer term, the analyst said a move to a more centralised model may be required but he warned that “the potential pace of change here could lead to some short-term volatility in the business.”