The brewers did not get along as goats – Newspaper Kommersant No. 171 (7372) of 09/16/2022

Global brewing companies continue to actively protect their brands on the Russian market. For example, the producer of Velkopopovitsky Kozel beer AB InBev Efes started an antitrust dispute with the Tver brewery Afanasy because of the use of the name Tver Kozel. Experts believe that Afanasy may thus be trying to promote a new product at the expense of a competitor and a more well-known brand.

The Tver OFAS accepted the statement of the Russian structure AB InBev Efes to the brewery “Afanasy” on the grounds of violation of the law on protection of competition, found “Kommersant” in the database of acts of the FAS. AB InBev Efes considered that Afanasy used the designation “Tver Kozel” and an image similar to the Velkopopovitsky Kozel and Velkopopovicky kozel brands, which are included in the AB InBev Efes portfolio, on the packaging.

AB InBev Efes is the largest beer producer in Russia, controlled by Turkey’s Anadolu Efes. It manages 11 plants, the brand portfolio includes Spaten, Hoegaarden, Sibirskaya Korona, Stary Melnik iz keg, Klinskoye and others.

The Afanasy brewery is part of the eponymous holding of Maxim Larin. It produces beer under the brands “Vintage”, “Domashnee”, “Craft”, etc., as well as meat, dairy and fish products. The capacity of the brewery is up to 100 million liters per year. The revenue of Afanasy Private Brewery LLC in 2021 increased by 12%, to RUB 2.9 billion.

The dispute concerns the Nippel beer drink, which Athanasius has been releasing since the end of 2021. Its description says that the consumer buys a non-alcoholic product, and the final fermentation of the beer should take place in the refrigerator for several hours. The designation “Tver goat” and the image of a goat are placed on the Nippel label. The trial is set for September 22.

Oraz Durdyev, President of AB InBev Efes, notes that Velkopopovitsky Goat has been produced in Russia since 2003 and has become widely known among consumers. According to him, one of the ways to stop unfair competition is to change the packaging materials for Tverskoy Kozel products. Athanasius told Kommersant that the goat has long been an unofficial symbol of Tver, and the inhabitants of this area are called “Tver goats.” The company added that the labels of the compared products have different dominant elements, they use different languages, fonts, a different composition, etc.

Stanislav Kaufman, owner of the Kaufman brand agency, says that using the Tver Kozel label is similar to Afanasy’s attempt to promote a new product at the expense of a competitor. As the expert notes, given the popularity of the Velkopopovicky kozel brand and the brand’s large-scale advertising campaign, the Tver manufacturer had all the prerequisites to expect that the consumer would have the necessary associations for Afanasy. Nikolai Zhelagin, the founder of the Beru Vykhodny chain of beer stores, adds that due to its characteristics, Nippel can be very different in taste from ordinary beer, and AB InBev Efes could also see a threat to discredit its brand.

For the Tver producer, this is not the first conflict with international brewing companies over brands. In 2016, Afanasy began producing mead under the brand name Okhota Nashe! Strong.” This caused opposition from the Russian structure Heineken, which owns the Okhota beer brand, at the suit of which the court banned the production of this product by Afanasy. Yulia Yarnykh, a partner at Semenov & Pevzner, believes that AB InBev Efes has a good chance of getting an injunction against the defendant, and to strengthen the position of the applicant, a poll can be conducted that demonstrates the misleading of consumers about the similarity of products.

Anatoly Kostyrev, Alexey Polukhin