Coronavirus: How it is affecting global economy

"Corona beer" becomes hot key on Google searchs

The brewer is facing the steepest decline in quarterly profits in more than a decade, claiming over US$225 million in lost profit since the outbreak began.

USA Today reported last month that Google searches for “Corona beer virus” and “beer virus” spiked in the US amid other searches related to “coronavirus symptoms,” an increase of 1,050 percent according to The Evening Standard.

Corona is brewed by the world’s biggest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev)​. They are also the company behind brands like Budweiser and Stella Artois.

The company predicted that their earnings would drop by about 10 percent after the virus first began, seeing the first slump for demand in China. The drop also coincided with the advent of the Chinese New Year, which furthered the blow by sending company shares down by 8 percent.

The Belgium-based group said: “The impact of the COVID-19 virus outbreak on our business continues to evolve. The outbreak has led to a significant decline in demand in China in both on-premise and in-home channels. Additionally, demand during the Chinese New Year was lower than in previous years as it coincided with the beginning of this outbreak.”

AB InBev estimates the earnings hit across China after seeing around US$375 million in sales lost just since January 2020 due to COVID-19./.