BEER Anheuser-Busch introduces World Select

The new beer will be a domestic but pose as an import.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Is this beer for you?
Anheuser-Busch Cos. sure hopes so. The brewing kingpin has rolled out an upscale beer in select cities to compete against the imported brews whose sales are barreling along in an otherwise stagnant market.
The world's largest brewer figures its Anheuser World Select can tap Americans' thirst for foreign-tasting suds. But it won't be an easy sell, despite Anheuser-Busch's huge marketing muscle.
Persuading fans of Corona, Heineken and other imports to buy a domestic beer of any taste "is a tall order," said Harry Schuhmacher, publisher of Beer Business Daily, a trade publication.
The problem for Anheuser-Busch is that a big part of the imports' appeal is that they're, well, imported.
"Beer drinking is all about image," Schuhmacher said. "High-end imports have done extremely well. Anheuser-Busch has watched this growth and they've largely not participated."
Marlene Coulis, Anheuser-Busch's director of new products, said World Select would change that. She said the new beer, a year in development, meets import fans' desire for "a fuller flavor, more hops and a little stronger of a finish."
Playing it safe
But Anheuser-Busch appears to be hedging its bets. The new beer will be sold only in 10 selected markets around the world.
For all the appeal Anheuser-Busch says its new offering will have, World Select isn't expected to alter the company's fortunes radically.
"Even if it's wildly successful in those 10 markets, it's not going to be a big driver for them," said Eric Shepard, executive editor of Beer Marketer's Insights, another industry journal. "But," he said, "it makes sense [to battle the imports] and they're going to give it a shot."
World Select will be bottled in Baldwinsville, N.Y.
Because it holds equity stakes in several foreign brewers, including Mexico's Grupo Modelo, maker of the best-selling Corona beers, Anheuser-Busch has profited from the import boom. Those equity holdings last year generated 18 percent of Anheuser-Busch's earnings of $1.93 billion.