beverage industry
Beer sales fell again – export is doing better
In 2021, German breweries once again brewed and sold significantly less beer than before. Photo: Christian Charisius/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Closed pubs and restaurants have also caused severe sales losses for breweries in the Corona crisis. The brewers prepare the public for higher prices.
The German breweries once again brewed and sold less beer last year. The Federal Statistical Office reported on Tuesday.
8.5 billion liters meant a drop in sales of 2.2 percent compared to the previous year and marked the lowest volume since the statistics were introduced. Since the beer tax was revised in 1993, the volume of beer has fallen by 23.9 percent.
As the most important reason for the further decline after the already very weak year 2020, the brewing industry had already named the catering restrictions due to the pandemic last week.
Smaller breweries have to fight
According to the statistics, the losses in the lockdown months of January and February 2021 were particularly high, especially since normal operations had prevailed in the comparable months of 2020. After that, beer sales recovered, the Federal Office announced.
A ray of hope for the breweries was the export business, which rose by 4 percent to 1.6 billion liters and is becoming increasingly important for the companies. Mixed beer drinks also increased. German beer was in greater demand than in the previous year, especially in countries outside the EU. Here, sales climbed by 12.7 percent to 817.3 million liters. In contrast, 4 percent less beer was exported to the EU countries than in 2020.
According to the Brauerbund, the smaller breweries in particular are struggling with the slump in sales because they are more dependent on draft beer sales in restaurants or at events. Numerous companies have also announced price increases.
Historic slump in sales
A look at sales does not reflect the actual extent of the crisis, said Brauerbund general manager Holger Eichele in Berlin. “The drop in sales will significantly exceed the drop in sales, because for breweries the added value in gastronomy and at events is much higher than in retail.” For many companies, it is becoming an existential threat that the historic slump in sales on the beer market is being matched by an unprecedented price explosion at suppliers.
“Beer brewing is more expensive than ever before,” explained Veltins boss Michael Huber. In the past year, market-related or politically induced cost increases had to be coped with in almost all procurement areas. However, the fact that the draft beer business quickly picks up again when the barriers to access to gastronomy are encouraged is encouraging.