Free beer continues at Anheuser-Busch; What does Brito think?
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It’s a perk that certain Post-Dispatch writers (not naming any names here) would LOVE to have: A couple of free cases of beer from their employer. Every month, like clockwork.
Free beer has been a part of the job at Anheuser-Busch for as long as anybody can remember. But when InBev swooped in and took control of the company last year, wags predicted that the benefit would soon fall victim of cost-cutting. They wondered: How long before the suds go dry?
Well, it ain’t happened yet. Lager Heads recently did a little investigative journalism - which will win a major award if there’s any justice in this world - and confirmed that the free beer program IS still going at Anheuser-Busch. Maybe it has escaped the notice of the folks planning budgets. Or maybe the budget folks like free beer as much as the rest of us.
Either way, this little oasis of employee appreciation continues in these troubled times. It warms our (admittedly skeptical) heart.
The little perk gives a sense of Anheuser-Busch’s massive scale. Let’s assume that the roughly 4,400 A-B employees in St. Louis take advantage of the offer every month for a year. That’s about 106,000 cases of beer given out in one year. Just for comparision, the guys at Schlafly would have had to work for about four months last year to churn out that much beer. Impressive.
We got to thinking: Wonder what Carlos Brito, the ultra-focused chief executive of Anheuser-Busch InBev, thinks about such perks. Wish we could ask him. (Wait, what’s that? Somebody already did ask him?) Let’s roll the tape.
A Reuters story finds Brito giving a speech to Stanford MBA students shortly before he launched a takeover bid for Anheuser-Busch last year:
The man who would be King of Beers is a no-frills leader without a company car or even his own desk.
Carlos Brito, chief executive of brewer InBev SA, says he doesn’t care for perks - and neither should the people who work for him.
“I don’t want the company to give me free beer; I can buy my own beer,” [he said.]
Two words: Uh oh. Get them suds while y’all can!
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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Jeremiah McWilliams is a native Virginian who came to the Post-Dispatch in early 2007 to cover beer and other consumer products. He previously covered manufacturing for the Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk, Va. He is a graduate of Washington and Lee University. 
I can understand where a brewery worker may not believe that there is such a thing as overstock in the network; or believe that all beer leaves the brewery in 24 hours. I sit next to the guy who picks what beer (and quantities) will be given away each month - most is overproduction (ie. slowing sales trends since we started the brew cycle for the liquid indicate that we probably have bottled too much at the current time). If you want to call that overstock, overproduction.. I don’t care. The rest of the beer is, yes, aging or out-of-pattern beer that would otherwise be destroyed.
It is more costly to destroy the beer, since we process and cleanse the liquid before releasing it as fresh water into the city sewage lines. Therefore, we get THREE birds with one stone by giving it away to employees - save money, boost employee moral, and free marketing.
So technically, almost all of you have been right in some sense. I just wanted to clear the air so there isn’t any confusion on the topic. Now please drop it.
Well after writing this, you probably just woke up Brito and he’ll pull the beer. Nice job. This probably kills another tradition. Reminds me of the date rape story in Broadcast News and Aaron Altman’s reply “just took the fun out of getting nookie.”
I will name myself as the P-D writer who wants free beer. I’m sure there are others.
I assume that not everyone takes advantage, but were the company to be giving out 106,000 standard cases (four six-packs of 12 oz. bottles), we’re talking about the equivalent of roughly $2.5 million in retail sales, if your standard Bud six-pack sells for $5.99.
If those bottles were instead sold, A-B’s slice of that money would be far smaller, of course, and the figure may only be a drop in the beer bucket of A-B’s total balance sheet. But I remain impressed this tradition continues; I, like other beer commentators, had wagered this practice would be a part of the cost cutting measures that Brito pledged.
MillerCoors gives their employees 3 cases a month…sweet perk.
I’d take 2 cases of what A-B has to offer over 3 cases of what MillerCoors has to offer any day of the week and twice on Sunday. A-B’s brand portfolio’s 2nd to none!
What free beer? Part of Teamsters hourly wage pays for two cases a month.
One reason to dump free beer is liability. I someone gets drunk from the free beer, drives, and kills someone, A-B could get sued. Fair? No, but a distinct possibility this will happen.
hey burrito stop the madness, just because you levereged every burrito you have doesn’t mean innocent people have to suffer, you are not and will never be one of us!! so go back to south america with your little fire ants you got running around spying and selling everything that isn’t bolted down!! auggie would kick your little greasy ass if he was still here right after he got done with his dumbass son and grandson that is!! sorry auggie!!rest in peace