BRUSSELS (AFP) - InBev may be based in Belgium and have strong ties to Brazil, but the brewing giant has grand plans to sell Budweiser — what it calls America in a bottle — to the world.

But InBev and its ambitious Brazilian chief executive Carlos Brito face a huge challenge to convince the world that it wants the iconic American brew as they try to make their 52-billion-dollar takeover of Budweiser-owner Anheuser-Busch pay off.

“Budweiser brings the great America in a bottle. That’s what consumers love,” Brito told journalists last week as he announced InBev’s planned takeover of Anheuser-Busch.

During the month-long takeover battle for Anheuser-Busch, Brito sought to win over the sceptical board at his US rival by promising to make Budweiser the merged company’s flagship international premium brew.

Using InBev’s extensive international distribution network, he said he envisaged Budweiser following in the steps of other well-known American consumer products that ventured beyond US shores.

“When I look at other American companies that have done this before — like McDonald’s, like Pepsi, like Coke, like Frito-Lays, so many companies that have expanded abroad — I’m very excited,” Brito said.

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written by Andrew