Status: October 19, 2021 6:05 p.m.
The leading German brewery groups want to increase prices in the coming year. The reasons are largely the same as in other industries. A glass of beer in the pub in the spring could then cost up to 50 cents more than it currently does.
Beer drinkers have to be prepared for the fact that their favorite drink will soon become more expensive. No less than three leading German breweries – the Radeberger Group, Krombacher and Veltins – want to increase their prices for gastronomy and retail noticeably next spring.
“Can’t be caught anymore”
Germany’s largest brewery group, Radeberger, justified the move with cost increases. “In addition to massive sales and earnings losses in the 18 months of the pandemic, all companies are now facing massive increases in costs for energy, logistics, empties, raw materials and supplies,” said a company spokeswoman. These cost increases could no longer be compensated for by simply increasing efficiency. Therefore, the selling prices would have to be increased.
A Veltins spokesman pointed out that in the energy sector alone, costs have risen by more than 150 percent in the past three years. “That can no longer be recovered,” he said. The planned price increase therefore applies to gastronomy as well as to retail. Krombacher pointed out that the last major price adjustment was three years ago.
“Supply secured”
The managing director of the German Brewers’ Association, Holger Eichele, also confirmed in the “Rheinische Post” that beverage manufacturers were massively affected by the shortage and increase in the price of individual components and raw materials. “In the entire industry, the cost increases in many areas are so massive that sooner or later they will likely have an impact on prices.”
The brewers’ association is observing the extreme price jumps for individual raw materials with growing concern. Brewing barley in particular is currently expensive and in short supply. “Over the year, prices have risen by around 50 percent,” said Eichele. In addition, the production of malt is energy-intensive. “As energy costs rise, as we are currently experiencing, so do the costs of malt.” But the managing director emphasized: “The supply is assured.”
Corona also affects the brewery industry
According to the brewers, there has been a significant drop in prices on the market since the beginning of the corona pandemic. Because the dealers had used red pen offers for beer to lure customers into the shops even during the pandemic. The promotional price for the case of Premium Pils is already back at the ten euro threshold. This means that beer does not cost more than in the D-Mark era, when the crate was offered as a special offer for 19.99 marks.
In addition, people in Germany drank so little beer during the Corona crisis than ever since reunification. In the first half of the current year, domestic sales fell by almost five percent to a low of 3.3 billion liters, reported the Federal Statistical Office in the summer. Above all, the brewing industry lacked business in the catering trade and at the many major events. The only bright spot was the retail sale of bottled beer, from which only a few large breweries benefited.
One euro more per box?
According to estimates by the industry service “GetränkeNews”, the price increases announced in letters to customers are likely to make the glass of beer in the pub more expensive by between 30 and 50 cents. The price for crates of beer in the trade is expected to rise by one euro. For those in the know, it is foreseeable that other breweries will follow the example of Radeberger and Co. Experience has shown that after a price increase by the big brewers, the regional brewers of Kölsch, Weißbier and Hellem also dared to step out of the cover and followed suit on a broad front. “Beer will be more expensive across the board in spring 2022,” the experts forecast.
However, beer lovers still have a grace period: Radeberger does not want to start raising prices until February. Retail prices are not even expected to rise until May. Krombacher and Veltins want to turn the price screw at the beginning of April. And there is still hope that some breweries will not go along with the wave of price increases in the end, given the tough competition.