US-based brewer Anheuser-Busch (A-B) is spending USD8 million on a series of improvements to its flagship brewery in St Louis, Missouri.

The finance is part of the nearly USD2 billion A-B has invested in upgrading equipment and production processes at facilities across the US in the past five years, most recently a USD7m overhaul of its brewery in Fairfield, California.

The commitment adds to the more than USD165m A-B has spent on the St Louis campus since 2019.

“This brewery is as iconic as the beer we brew, and these investments help ensure that we not only have the infrastructure but also the people and talent to build on our legacy for generations to come,” said A-B’s chief executive Brendan Whitworth.

The financial injection follows a challenging period for the company whose beers include Budweiser and Bud Light. 

A poorly received marketing campaign in the US last year for Bud Light, which at the time was the nation’s best-selling beer, led to a significant fall in domestic sales and volumes, which in turn impacted the sales of Ball Corporation, A-B’s largest supplier of beverage cans.

As a result of drinkers boycotting Bud Light, Colorado-based Ball partly blamed its 11% decline in profit last year on “customer exposure to a US mass beer brand disruption”. 

In May 2023, Constellation Brands’ Modelo Especial beer took the country’s top sales spot and volumes at A-B continued to fall in the first three months of this year.

Founded in St Louis more than 165 years ago, A-B is part of the Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev Group, the world’s largest brewer, and which also produces the Stella Artois brand.