Today’s Daily Angle comes from Wikinvest Wire member David Hunkar of TopForeignStocks.com. You can read the full article on David’s blog.

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Sales of alcholic beverages are proving to be recession-proof. Sales of expensive wines,beers and spirits have been flat to down compared to one year earlier. However sales of beer in the cheapest category have been up a solid 7.3%. Sales of imported beers fell by 3.8%. Cheaper brands which usually tend to have the biggest market shares have shown solid growth in the recession.

The world’s five biggest alcohol companies by market cap are listed below:

1. Anheuser-Busch Inbev (BUD)
   • Belgium
   • Market cap as of March: $81 billion
   • Top Brands: Budweiser, the Busch and Michelob families,Natural #*Light,Ice, etc.
2. Companhia de Bebidas das Américas (ABV)
   • Brazil
   • Market cap as of March: $57 billion
3. Diageo plc (DEO)
   • U.K.
   • Market cap as of March: $42 billion
   • Top Brands: Jamaican lager Red Stripe, Ireland’s Kilkenny red ales and Senator Keg in Africa, etc.
4. Heineken (OTC: HINKY)
   • The Netherlands
   • Market cap as of March: $25 billion
   • Top Brands: Heineken and Amstel
5. Pernod-Ricard (OTC: PDRDY)
   • France
   • Market cap as of March: $22 billion
   • Top Brands: ABSOLUT VODKA, Jacob’s Creek, Havana Club, Martell, etc.

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Some of the largest food and drug retailers in the U.S. are Kroger (KR), Safeway (SWY), Whole Food Market (WFMI),Supervalu (SVU) and The Great Atlantic and Pacific (GAP). These companies operate in multiple states and take advantage of their size by selling products sometimes at very low prices. Even the world’s largest retail chain Wal-Mart (WMT) is a major player in the food retail industry with its Sam’s Club division and Wal-Mart Super Stores that have large food sections. Due to continuous over-production and the commodity nature of food products, food retailing is a low margin business and usually involves cut-throat competition as each retailer tries to take away market share from rivals.

The same business terrain exists overseas for this sector. Wal-Mart’s global competitor Carrefour of France is not listed on the US exchanges. However five foreign food retailers shown below are available for US investors as ADRs:

Besides Europe and Asia, Belgian firm Delhaize Group (DEG) operates 1,500 stores in 16 states in the U.S. under the Food Lion, Bloom, Bottom Dollar, Harveys, Hannaford Bros., and Sweetbay names. Israel-based Blue Square Israel Ltd (BSI) has a current yield of 9.25%. China Nepstar Chain Drugstore Ltd. (NPD) is a retail drugstore chain with 2,709 stores located in 12 provinces and 76 cities across China. Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao (CBD) operates 597 stores in Brazil selling food, clothing, home appliances, etc. Grupo Casa Saba (SAB) is a national wholesale consumer goods distributor in Mexico.

Today’s Daily Angle comes from Wikinvest Wire member David Hunkar of TopForeignStocks.com. You can read thefull article on David’s blog.

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The U.S. food giant Kraft Foods (KFT) has made a £10.2bn bid ($16.7 billion) to acquire Cadbury (CBY), the most famous confectionery company of U.K. The deal values Cadbury at 745 pence a share. (Note:1 British Pound (£)= 100 pence)

Cadbury’s board quickly rejected the offer saying that the deal undervalues the company. Some of the large shareholders including Legal and General, one of U.K.’s top investment and insurance services company, are backing the board. Shareholders want at least 800 pence a share. Now other companies such as Nestle and Hershey may join the battle for the control of Cadbury. If Kraft is successful with this takeover bid, the global food industry will be changed forever. So what are the largest food and beverage companies in the world?

The Dow Jones Food & Beverage Titans 30 Index contains the leading companies in the global food and beverage sector. As of August 31, 2009 the index is up 14.38%. Last year when financials were down heavily, this index lost 25.85%. The top 10 components are listed below:

1. Company: Nestle S.A. (OTC: NSRGY)
   • Country: Switzerland
   • Current Yield: 3.02%
2. Company: Pepsi (PEP)
   • Country: USA
   • Average Annual Earnings Growth (5 years): 9.44%
3. Company: Coca-Cola Co (KO)
   • Country: USA
   • Average Annual Earnings Growth (5 years): 7.08%
4. Company: Monsanto Co. (MON)
   • Country: USA
   • Current Yield: 1.29%
5. Company: Unilever N.V. (UN)
   • Country: The Netherlands
   • Current Yield: 5.11%
   • Average Annual Earnings Growth (5 years): 11.59%
6. Company: Diageo Plc (DEO)
   • Country: USA
   • Current Yield: 4.57%
   • Average Annual Earnings Growth (5 years): 3.04%
7. Company: Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT)
   • Country: USA
   • Current Yield: 4.13%’
   • Average Annual Earnings Growth (5 years): (8.94%)
8. Company: Unilever Plc (UL)
   • Country: U.K.
   • Current Yield: 4.56%
9. Company: Danone S.A. (OTC:DANOY)
   • Country: France
   • Current Yield: 3.13%
10. Company: Anheuser-Busch InBev (EBR:ABI)
    • Country: Belgium
    • Current Yield: No regular dividends paid

Cadbury’s portfolio includes brands like Bourn Vita, Dairy Milk, Halls, Trident, etc. These brands are highly popular in many emerging countries especially in the former British colonies. Any acquirer of Cadbury is sure to benefit from its brand values.