Anheuser-Busch

• Date Founded: 1852
• Industry: Brewing
• Corporate Headquarters: St. Louis, Missouri, United States
• Type: Public

Anheuser-Busch is a brewing company famous for its Budweiser, Miller, and Natural Light beers. The company began in 1852 when Eberhard Anheuser purchased a struggling brewery. Anheuser hired Adolphus Busch as a brewer, and together, they formed Anheuser-Busch.

Budweiser, formerly the most popular product sold by Anheuser-Busch, helped popularize the German lager in America. It was also the first beer to use pasteurization, which significantly increased its shelf life. Over the decades, Anheuser-Busch grew in scale until it became one of the largest breweries in the United States. Its beer brands, including Budweiser, are commonly considered American icons. The company has altered Budweiser’s formula as little as possible over the years, and the beer has remained popular throughout America into the twenty-first century. Although Budweiser is Anheuser-Busch's flagship brand, by 2001 Bud Light became the company's best-selling beer in the United States. However, in 2023, Modelo Especial outsold Bud Light as the best-selling beer in the US. In 2024, Michelob Ultra was the top-selling Anheuser-Busch beer in terms of draft lines, while Modelo Especial was the top-selling beer overall.

The Busch family famously remained in control of Anheuser-Busch for more than a century. However, over time, their stock in the company was gradually reduced. In 2008, the Brazilian beverage conglomerate InBev initiated a hostile takeover of Anheuser-Busch. Carlos Brito remained the CEO of InBev until 2021 when he was replaced by Michel Doukeris, who also led the Anheuser-Busch subsidiary.

History

Anheuser-Busch began when Eberhard Anheuser, an entrepreneur and a soap manufacturer, purchased a failing brewery in 1852. Anheuser saw potential in the brewery, especially its location. The structure was located in underground caverns near the Mississippi River, providing a cool environment ideal for brewing beer.

Unfortunately, Anheuser had little experience in the beer business. For this reason, he hired his son-in-law, Adolphus Busch. Busch was a German immigrant and a skilled brewer. Together, they formed Anheuser-Busch. At the time, beer was most commonly brewed and served locally. It came in many different varieties, and communities tended to be partial to their local breweries. Additionally, beer was difficult to transport long distances without the product spoiling.

Budweiser was first produced in the US in 1876. Anheuser was determined to produce a beer that would be popular throughout a wider area. He used a German lager recipe and modified the recipe to make it more palatable to the Americans of the time. Anheuser named this brew Budweiser. He hoped that the simple German name would make the beer popular among German immigrants but would still be easy for American consumers to pronounce.

Anheuser-Busch was the first major brewer to utilize pasteurization during the brewing process. This increased the shelf life of the beer—Budweiser did not spoil as quickly as other beers. This longer shelf life allowed Anheuser-Busch to sell its flagship product to consumers who were located farther away from their brewery. Additionally, the invention of the refrigerated railroad car helped with this endeavor as it kept the beer cool during transport. Eventually, Budweiser was able to sell its product across the United States.

The Busch family was very careful to avoid altering the original recipe of their flagship beer, Budweiser. Instead, they introduced other beers, including Michelob. By 1901, Anheuser-Busch had become the largest brewing company in the United States.

During Prohibition, Anheuser-Busch was unable to sell alcohol in the United States. However, the company found that it could make money by selling the parts people needed to illegally make their own alcohol at home. Additionally, Anheuser-Busch expanded into selling refrigerated train cars. When Prohibition ended, the company returned to selling beer.

After World War II, Anheuser-Busch experienced an era of significant growth. In 1951, the company opened nine new breweries across the country. Anheuser-Busch increased its beer sales from just three million barrels annually to more than 34 million barrels. In the 1970s, their rival brewing company Miller released a popular light beer. This product, called Miller Light, contained fewer calories but had nearly the same flavor. To compete with this, Anheuser-Busch released three beers: Michelob Light, Budweiser Light, and Natural Light.

The Busch family retained control of Anheuser-Busch for generations. Over time, the stake the family held in the company dropped to roughly 4 percent. However, the family continued to maintain leadership roles in Anheuser-Busch. In 2008, the Belgian-Brazilian conglomerate InBev began a hostile takeover of Anheuser-Busch. It purchased a large amount of the company’s stock for $52 billion and removed the Busch family from leadership roles within the company. In early 2023, the company experienced a boycott following its partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender social media influencer. This led to a change in leadership in the company's marketing department. In 2024, Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) was owned by Altria, BlackRock, and other shareholders.

Impact

Anheuser-Busch is one of the largest beer producers in the world. Its most successful beer, Budweiser, is recognized throughout the world as a typical American beer. Throughout its history, the company has considered itself to be the primary American beer company. It invested heavily in America, creating an industry that used American ingredients to make beer that was popular throughout the country. Though the company was bought out by an international conglomerate in 2008, little about its attitude has changed.

Additionally, the Busch family’s early leadership of Anheuser-Busch helped pioneer how the company would relate to its employees in the future. They treated their employees like family, invested in them, and cared about their happiness. In return, they expected their employees to work hard, innovate, and remain loyal to the company throughout their careers. This approach also became a model for many other companies.

Anheuser-Busch’s flagship beverage Budweiser helped the German lager become popular in America. After Budweiser’s success, many other breweries began producing lagers. Budweiser is still the company’s best-known offering and is commonly considered an American icon.

In 2018, Anheuser-Busch announced that it intended to become an example of a sustainable industry. It obtained about 50 percent of its energy from renewable resources and committed to significantly reducing the air and water pollution created by its factories. Representatives from Anheuser-Busch stated that they hoped other companies would follow their example. Anheuser-Busch has set additional sustainability goals, including achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 and transitioning to 100 percent renewable electricity while reducing carbon emissions by 25 percent by 2025. The company also intended to focus on improving water quality in stressed areas, developing resilient crop varieties and regenerative agricultural practices, and adopting returnable or recycled-content packaging for all products by 2025.

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