I mean, isn’t this exactly what we predicted when the sale took place?
At least now we know why they kept that big empty spot on each beer page between the abv and the description
It begun a while back. There have been links to Beerhawk in the UK for ages.
Yea, I’ve ignored it since the link arrived and will continue to do so.
Marvelous how they can get that all up and running but the basics are left to fall apart.
<*))))))><
This is not a universal thing. The CBS page I just brought up doesn’t have that.
Are you accessing ratebeer through an EU VPN? Or are you in Europe? Just curious as to why they are offering beer in € from an EU-based store to a Canadian user.
It seems to be location based. Last time I went home to the UK I started seeing the links to BeerHawk.
Thankfully, there are no related stores in my area. That’s why I only get those oh so beautiful empty white areas that we are supposed to utterly love because we are told they are better.
As others have said this has been around for ages but it’s country-specific. If ABInBev hasn’t bought out an online bottleshop in your country then you apparently see white space there.
ABInBev (or actually ZX Ventures technically speaking) are slowly eating up independent bottleshops in a bid to push others out and corner the market for themselves and get everyone drinking only the brands they own, or at least profit from the ones they don’t. Here’s a list of online bottleshops they are known to operate:
Europe:
UK - BeerHawk, BeerBods (owned by BeerHawk), Master of Malt (whisky shop but they sell a lot of beer too)
France - Saveur-Biere
Belgium - Saveur-Biere
Germany - Hopt (Saveur-Biere)
Italy - Hopt (Saveur-Biere)
Netherlands - Hopt (Saveur-Biere)
Spain - Hopt (Saveur-Biere)
Sweden - Hopt (Saveur-Biere)
Oceania
Australia - BoozeBud
South/Latin America
Mexico - Beerhouse Mexico
Argentina - CraftSociety
Chile - Casa de la Cerveza (this is actually ABInBev’s own property, not an acquisition)
Brazil - Empório da Cerveja (AmBev’s shop but became part of ABInBev’s ZX Ventures in 2015)
Of course it came as no surprise to see RB start pushing these after the investment, it makes good business sense for them. I know BeerHawk and SaveurBiere links have been there for a while but not sure about the other countries. Anyway, that’s who to avoid buying from if you care about independence. If you don’t then, well, enjoy your cheap beer I guess.
I only see the link to SHOP when I browse the website from the main page and when I click the SHOP icon from there, otherwise it doesn’t seem to appear anywhere yet.
Hadn’t noticed the shop icon - some of the providers are decent long time retailers - but they are subbing under an overall retailer. Maybe use the icon to find a beer and then check the actual provider and shop direct?
And maybe not - what a pain!
