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Global structure and strategies of the alcohol industry

Thomas Babor, Harold Holder, Raul Caetano, Ross Homel, Sally Casswell, Michael Livingston, Griffith Edwards, Esa Österberg, Norman Giesbrecht, Jürgen Rehm, Kathryn Graham, Robin Room, Joel Grube, Ingeborg Rossow, and Linda Hill

in Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity: Research and Public Policy

This chapter focuses on multinational corporations and global markets for alcohol, since this is the most rapidly expanding sector of the alcohol industry and the most politically powerful. However, ... More

This chapter focuses on multinational corporations and global markets for alcohol, since this is the most rapidly expanding sector of the alcohol industry and the most politically powerful. However, more than half of the world's alcohol supply still falls outside the scope of the multinational producers, in the hands of ‘informal’ home producers — often of traditional beverages — and local producers of industrialized traditional beverages and ‘international’-style beverages. Those sectors are also briefly discussed, emphasizing relationships and common interests in the sale of alcohol as the alcohol industry consolidates on a global basis.Less

‘Binge drinking’, anti-social behaviour and alcohol-related disorder: examining the 2003 Licensing Act

Paul Norris and Derek Williams

in ASBO nation: The criminalisation of nuisance

The terms ‘anti-social behaviour’ and ‘disorder’ are often used interchangeably, particularly when discussing behaviour under the influence of alcohol. This chapter locates the patterns of behaviour ... More

The terms ‘anti-social behaviour’ and ‘disorder’ are often used interchangeably, particularly when discussing behaviour under the influence of alcohol. This chapter locates the patterns of behaviour commonly termed ‘binge drinking’ within spatial, economic and cultural changes associated with the growth of the night-time economy of cities and towns in the United Kingdom since 1987. It also discusses recent policy interventions in respect of licensing hours, regulation and ‘liberalisation’. It argues that a failure to contextualise properly ‘binge drinking’ within significant shifts in leisure and consumption patterns, and to acknowledge the potential for long-run negative consequences (for individuals, social networks and communities), has led to a myopic focus in recent policies on ‘harm reduction’ and on seeking to limit alcohol-related disorder. This policy vacuum is illustrated in the underlying tension between competing ideologies of the ‘citizen’ and the ‘consumer’. This chapter also looks at the alcohol industry and Licensing Act of 2003.Less

Impact of alcohol on poverty and the need for appropriate policy

Aneel Karnani

in Alcohol: Science, Policy and Public Health

This chapter begins with a discussion of how alcohol exacerbates poverty. It then describes how multinational alcohol companies are increasingly targeting low-and middle-income countries with large ... More

This chapter begins with a discussion of how alcohol exacerbates poverty. It then describes how multinational alcohol companies are increasingly targeting low-and middle-income countries with large populations, such as India, China, Brazil, South Africa, Nigeria, and Uganda, to achieve their growth objectives. It also considers the regulation of the alcohol industry. Finally, it presents a case study of the alcohol industry in Malawi. It is argued that the alcohol industry should be regulated to reduce demand and control supply. Policies to reduce demand include counselling and support for people with alcohol dependency problems and public education campaigns to raise awareness. Restrictions on marketing and advertising of alcohol reduce demand.Less

Setting up Shop: Jews Becoming Americans in the Nineteenth-Century Alcohol Trade

Marni Davis

in Jews and Booze: Becoming American in the Age of Prohibition

This chapter discusses American Jews' growing presence in the alcohol industry during the nineteenth century. For American Jews, the alcohol business represented both a connection with their past and ... More

This chapter discusses American Jews' growing presence in the alcohol industry during the nineteenth century. For American Jews, the alcohol business represented both a connection with their past and a means to improve their present. Their pre-migrational familiarity with the processes of production and distribution dovetailed with the structure of the American alcohol trade, creating opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs to establish themselves in their new country. The alcohol industry facilitated economic mobility and served as a force of acculturation, while creating and sustaining Jewish communities through ethnic entrepreneurial networks. The chapter also looks at anti-Semitism in the nineteenth century and the temperance and prohibition movements' participation in the campaign to “Christianize” American society and politics.Less

An “Unscrupulous Jewish Type of Mind”: Jewish Alcohol Entrepreneurs and Their Critics

Marni Davis

in Jews and Booze: Becoming American in the Age of Prohibition

This chapter explains the emergence of a toxic image of the Jewish alcohol purveyor—a new iteration of the image of the Jewish economic villain in the United States. It discusses how political and ... More

This chapter explains the emergence of a toxic image of the Jewish alcohol purveyor—a new iteration of the image of the Jewish economic villain in the United States. It discusses how political and social movements connected with prohibitionists, with the specific interests of each group helping shape the prohibition movement during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. And where these concerns included suspicion of and hostility toward American Jews, prohibition and anti-Semitism became intertwined. Anti-Semites and prohibitionists provided parallel ideological settings for Americans to express alarm about economic stratification and the increasingly commercial nature of the American economy, the growing presence of immigrants in American society, and challenges to the political and cultural dominance of white Protestants. They offered a harsh critique of American Jewish economic activity, implying Jews' presence in the alcohol trade proved their essential hostility to American values.Less

Beer orders: the changing landscape in the 1990s

James Nicholls

in The Politics of Alcohol: A History of the Drink Question in England

While the public health lobby became more influential in the 1970s and 1980s, it struggled to have an impact on policy. The political mood, which had swung towards the liberalisation of the drinks ... More

While the public health lobby became more influential in the 1970s and 1980s, it struggled to have an impact on policy. The political mood, which had swung towards the liberalisation of the drinks trade in the early 1960s, did not change under Margaret Thatcher's Conservative administration. If anything, it became more firmly established. This is not to say that there were no concerns over drink and drunkenness. In 1989, the Monopolies and Mergers Commission published a report on the supply of beer which looked specifically at the question of tied houses. The report formed the basis of the Supply of Beer (Tied Estate) Order — otherwise known as the ‘Beer Orders’. The historic tie between brewers and retailers collapsed following the Beer Orders; the principle of ‘need’ collapsed under pressure from both central government and the magistrates' own advisory bodies. For the first time, the alcohol industry began to market drunkenness as a primary aim of drinking as they sought to compete with other psychoactive youth markets.Less

The Middle Ages 1000–1500: The Birth of an Industry

Rod Phillips

in Alcohol: A History

This chapter discusses the history of alcohol in the Middle Ages. Between 1000 and 1500, the growth of urban administrations, the consolidation of church power, and changes in the economic and ... More

This chapter discusses the history of alcohol in the Middle Ages. Between 1000 and 1500, the growth of urban administrations, the consolidation of church power, and changes in the economic and commercial structures of Europe brought about many important changes in the place of alcohol in European society and culture. Among the most significant lies in the origins of an alcohol industry, with the beginnings of concentration of ownership in brewing and long-distance trade in both beer and wine. Overall production increased, and the commentaries on excessive drinking might lead us to believe that consumption also increased.Less

The architecture of the addiction lobby

David Miller, Claire Harkins, Matthias Schlögl, and Brendan Montague

in Impact of Market Forces on Addictive Substances and Behaviours: The web of influence of addictive industries

This chapter uses social network analysis to explore the web of influence of the four ‘addictive’ industries examined in the book: alcohol, tobacco, food, and gambling. The data are used to paint an ... More

This chapter uses social network analysis to explore the web of influence of the four ‘addictive’ industries examined in the book: alcohol, tobacco, food, and gambling. The data are used to paint an overall picture before taking a closer look in subsequent chapters. The four industries form more or less separated clusters, and whereas the alcohol and food industries are very well interconnected, the gambling and tobacco industries are only loosely tied to the others. The network also shows that advertising and marketing sectors and think tanks often act as connecting hubs between the industries. The closer look at the clusters of the four industries shows some important differences. The food cluster is more heterogeneous than the others are; the alcohol cluster contains product-related subclusters; and gambling, as well as tobacco, is smaller and less dense compared with the other two.Less

Sustainable Finance and Responsible Investors

Boudewijn de Bruin

in The Business of Liberty: Freedom and Information in Ethics, Politics, and Law

This chapter considers socially responsible investment (SRI). I first consider the strategies that SRI investors employ, such as shareholder democracy, activism, negative and positive screens, and ... More

This chapter considers socially responsible investment (SRI). I first consider the strategies that SRI investors employ, such as shareholder democracy, activism, negative and positive screens, and relative selection. I quickly review the literature on the effects of SRI. I then zoom in on the alcohol industry, arguably the first industry to get a negative screen. I distinguish two arguments that SRI investors proffer in favour of their investment strategies—namely, the argument from common goods (as presented by Steven Lydenberg, among others) and the argument from religious values. I show that they fail to offer a full-blown justification of SRI on the basis of effectiveness and democratic legitimacy. Instead, I propose an argument from ethical issues. I apply this to the example of the marketing of ‘alcopops’, flavoured alcoholic beverages, and conclude with an excursion into SRI and climate-related financial disclosures.Less

The Downside of Drinking

Michael D. Stein and Sandro Galea

in Pained: Uncomfortable Conversations about the Public's Health

This chapter addresses five potential reasons as to why alcohol, an ancient substance, seems to have become newly hazardous. First, the alcohol industry continues to be powerful and savvy. Industry ... More

This chapter addresses five potential reasons as to why alcohol, an ancient substance, seems to have become newly hazardous. First, the alcohol industry continues to be powerful and savvy. Industry advertising never says that alcohol is not addictive; rather, the message is “use responsibly,” which implies that alcohol’s use—unlike the use of drugs—is controllable. Second, although the proportion of Americans drinking has remained steady at about two in three people over the past 70 years, Americans are drinking more, and more easily. Third, during this decade of economic expansion, many Americans have more income. In contrast to the stereotype, affluent people are more likely to drink than low-income people. Fourth, binge-drinking is now a rite of passage in college. With women a growing percentage of collegiate heavy drinkers, and with alcohol-makers targeting women with sweeter and fizzier products, health risks accumulate among women, who generally experience greater alcohol effects at lower doses than men. Fifth, Americans have become complacent about driving under the influence, because seatbelts and safer cars have lowered alcohol-related fatalities. Yet, paradoxically, alcohol-related traffic accidents are on the rise. Consuming less alcohol in total or on a per-occasion basis would probably improve the health of most people. That is a credible and reasonable public health goal.Less

Shipping and Trade, Cargo Trades

David M. Williams and Andrew P. White

in A Select Bibliography of British and Irish University Theses about Maritime History, 1792-1990

A bibliography of post-graduate theses concerning the Cargo Trade of Coal; Grain; Guano; Opium; Salt; Sugar; Tea; Timber; Tobacco; Wine and Spirits; Wool, and more.