Senator Amy Klobuchar
Amy Klobuchar was among the senators who quizzed down beer industry executives during a Capitol hearing on the proposed 107 billion dollar merger of several of the countries largest beer companies. During the hearing Klobuchar stated “I do not come to this hearing with the conclusion but I do have a goal and that is to protect and foster competition. From one perspective there has been consistent consolidation in the beer industry over the last decade Anheuser Busch, Miller and Coors have all been involved in major acquisitions.” Klobuchar says she wants to make sure the proposed merger doesn’t raise beer prices or freeze out local U.S. brands. She says in 1978, there were fewer than 50 brewers in the U.S. There are now 41-hundred craft brewers and their sales have grown from one-percent of the market, to 11-percent. In Minnesota alone, there are now more than 70 brewers.