Border trade again

Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten tries a new angle – this time it is not Norwegians stocking up on beer, wine and stronger stuff in Sweden. It’s Swedes doing the same in Germany.
Expensive toll bridges, petrol and ferries means they have to buy quite a lot for this to be profitable. But they do. Legally.
The European Union [...]

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Craft beer or crap beer

Beverage Daily has started a series where they are looking into the potential of craft beer in various markets in Europe. I haven’t had the time to analyze this properly, but it seems to me to be some confusion concerning terms here. Using a local or regional brand name does not necessarily mean craft.
I’ll come back [...]

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He has to buy his own

Some days ago, I was in a queue. With Norway being one of the few European countries not yet a member of the EU, we still have duty free sales at Oslo airport. (No, I was just buying a deodorant. The beer selection is awful. I have tried to discuss it with them, but with [...]

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The best intentions

The Brewers of Sweden should be very happy.
Their beer exports are up 44 per cent for the first eight months of 2008. But this is an example of needing to look beneath the surface.
In the same press release giving the positive figures, their CEO points out that this is not the result of Swedish beer [...]

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Statistics

When I look at the map, I have covered a fair number of countries since I started blogging. 23, to be exact, and that means 23 countries I have visited in this three year period.
Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Ireland, Scotland, England (yes, I count England, even if they don’t have their own parliament!), Wales, [...]

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Border trade

The inventiveness of merchants and governments across Europe has led to many strange price differences between neighbouring countries. Sugar, petrol, vodka, wine – the list is endless. The European Union has led to some harmonisation, but you still have lots of Danes going to Germany to shop, not to mention Brits going across to France.
National [...]

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Traceable beer

Traceability is a buzz word for everything connected with food in Europe and, I believe, globally.  There are many reasons for this: 

Public and animal health,

Consumer confidence in food,

Varying degrees of honesty in the market place

Marketing opportunities (slow food, local food, spinning stories about the farmer or the brewer)

Governments and EU bodies’ wish to enforce legislation/taxation/control [...]

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One more year to go..

The Norwegian Royal Ministry of Health and Care Services has, after dragging its feet for some time, sent a letter to the EFTA Surveillance Authority informing them that the ban on private import of alcohol should be repealed and replaced by an alternative control system. The Norwegian Government will therefore immediately initiate work on drafting alternative [...]

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