I suspect that the breweries that went out of business are small local or
regional concerns and not the major players.  The major players, linked in
transnational corporate structures, are--like the tobacco
industry--targeting rapidly growing markets for their products in the
developing world.  David Jernigan's recent book THIRSTING FOR MARKETS
beautifully describes what is going on in this regard.
 
Mac Marshall
 
 
At 10:25 AM 5/11/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Last year German beer consumption was the lowest that it had been in
>thirty years, and thirty breweries went out of business.  (Source: a
>Beck's Internet promo which noted that Beck's did very well in this
>bad market for beer.)  May I ask German specialists for an
>explanation?  Is this in line with the experience in other
>beer-drinking European countries?  Australia and New
>Zealand?  Certainly beer sales are flat in North America.
>
>