Carlsberg in Emerging Markets

Risking becoming the target of a hostile takeover or being cornered as a small regional player in the global beer industry, the Danish brewery Carlsberg decided in the early 2000s to expand into rapidly growing emerging markets to pursue new arenas of growth. By 2008, this strategy had paid off, and Carlsberg was positioned among the five largest breweries in the world. In the Russian market — one of the fastest-growing markets in the world — Carlsberg had become the market leader. In China — the world’s largest beer market in terms of size and population — the company had achieved a 55 per cent market share in Western China, and operated 20 brewery plants with approximately 5,000 employees. The ambitious acquisition strategy applied in emerging markets had become essential to Carlsberg’s business in relation to future growth and profits. Accordingly, the case focuses on Carlsberg’s entry into China, which started as a commercial failure in the eastern part of the country, but subsequently developed successfully in the west.