beverages
Brauer-Bund only expects a slow market recovery
Beer enjoyment like here at a folk festival in Upper Bavaria – that has rarely been the case since the pandemic began. Photo: Peter Kneffel/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
First the pubs were closed, then even the Oktoberfest was cancelled. The brewing industry again had to record a significant decline in sales in 2021 – and 2022 did not start very promising either.
After a significant drop in sales during the Corona crisis, the German Brewers’ Association expects the beer market to recover slowly at best.
Uncertain consumers, tightened access rules for the catering trade and the cancellation of many events almost had the effect of another lockdown for the brewing industry, which is characterized by medium-sized and artisanal businesses, explained general manager Holger Eichele on Friday.
According to the information, many innkeepers have voluntarily closed their restaurants due to a lack of profitability. As a result, more and more breweries had to register short-time work again in January and had to slow down the bottling of draft beer. “The Omicron wave hits companies that have already been severely weakened by the effects of the crisis that has now lasted almost two years and often have their backs to the wall,” said Eichele. That applies to restaurants as well as breweries.
In the past year, the month-long lockdown in gastronomy in particular hit the industry, which includes around 1,500 breweries, hard. The Brauer-Bund expects a further decline in sales of around 3 to 4 percent for alcoholic beer in 2021. This means that around 200 to 300 million liters less alcoholic beer was sold than in 2020. At that time, the industry recorded a record minus of 5.5 percent. The Federal Statistical Office intends to publish the official figures next Tuesday.