The Brewers Forum 2021: At the heart of what brewers are doing

Difficult times | The European brewing industry has been hit very hard by the Covid pandemic and the ensuing shutdown. BRAUWELT International spoke with Pierre-Olivier Bergeron, Secretary General at The Brewers of Europe, about where the Brewers Forum fits into this picture.

In the five years leading up to 2020, Europe’s beer sector was really on the up, with consecutive years of growth in production and consumption as beer enjoyed a renaissance within Europe and non-Europeans thirst and interest in European beer continued to boom.

The number of breweries also doubled over that period, to over ten thousand, ensuring that beer was also responding to a wider consumer base and growing consumer interest in diversity of styles, tastes, strengths and beer occasions. 

We have also seen how environmental sustainability has become fully embedded in the way that most brewers run their businesses, in a number of cases even helping define the strategy of many new brewers.

Current impact of Covid for the brewing market

Covid, or more specifically the shutdown of the hospitality sector – bars, pubs, cafés, restaurants, also festivals, concerts, events – stopped that growth of the beer sector in its tracks and presented an unprecedented challenge that no brewer could ever really have prepared for. In many countries this shutdown has been going on for 9 of the last 12 months.

With bars closed and socialising effectively banned, it has shown just how embedded beer is in the culture, society and way of life of so many Europeans. It is not just about the beer but also the whole experience that we as humans like to share.

Twenty percent of the beer market was wiped out in the first half of 2020. A partial opening across the summer in most of Europe provided some respite, but it was short-lived and many countries were thrown back into a shutdown of the hospitality sector from end September.

What has not stopped though is the resolve and solidarity of Europe’s brewers, coming together to innovate and collaborate. Brewers teamed up to deliver beers to consumers’ homes, schemes were set up to provide much needed revenue to bars even whilst they stay closed, best practice was shared as brewers and bars battled with the challenge of what to do with the barrels and bottles left languishing in cellars across Europe for weeks.

Product innovation also continued, with one trend further progressing as more and more consumers sought out good tasting non- and lower- alcohol beers. Sustainability was also not put to the side, as the need for a green recovery has become ever more apparent.

BRAUWELT International spoke with Pierre-Olivier Bergeron, Secretary General at The Brewers of Europe, about where the Brewers Forum fits into this picture.

The European brewing sector has been hit very hard by the pandemic. What made you decide to organize a Brewers Forum this year anyway?

Pierre-Olivier Bergeron: The Forum is a landmark event in Europe where brewers from across the continent can come together to discuss innovations, trends and solutions and look towards the future. This is typically the place where that much needed solidarity takes shape and where brewers can get inspiration from each other to overcome the crisis the brewing world is facing.

When will the event take place, and in what form? Will it be fully digital?

P.-O. Bergeron: The Forum will take place this year over four days, from the 1st to the 4th of June. It was initially planned over three days, to cover different aspects such as market trends, marketing approaches, and technical insights on brewing lagers and barrel-aged beers. But we decided to expand it with one additional day to dive into the area of environmental sustainability which will become ever more crucial for all brewers in the next years. Not only is it at the heart of what brewers are doing but consumers are also looking for it and policy-makers at EU and national level are tightening the regulations to fight the climate change which is also impacting our raw ingredients.

We made two strong choices early on. Firstly, this year’s edition will be free of charge for attendees. We understand many brewers are facing critical economic situations, and we want to ensure as many of them can attend our event to get inspiration, learn from others and maximise their chances of overcoming the economic crisis. And I hasten to add that we will not be cutting corners when it comes to guaranteeing a high quality event, with sponsors stepping in to help ensure the Forum remains a premium occasion.

Secondly, the event will be fully digital. The situation is simply too uncertain to try and organise a physical event and we believe a digital Forum will allow for more people to actually attend it, at their own pace, from their home locations and to get the best out of it. Whilst we recognise an event for brewers, suppliers and technicians is best when organised physically and allowing guests to enjoy discussions around a glass of beer, the digital format does mean we can gather many interesting speakers from across the world who might under different circumstances have not been able to all be in the same place on the same dates for a real-life event.

Do you already have some information on the programme that you could share with our readers in advance, for example about the keynote speakers and the main topics?

P.-O. Bergeron: Well, whilst we’re looking at announcing the programme in the second half of March, I can already point your attention to some of our keynote speakers. And of course there are many other high quality speakers who are also already confirmed. I strongly believe our audience will be interested in listening to what Dolf Van den Brink, CEO of Heineken, or Mr. Atsushi Katsuki, CFO of Asahi Group Holdings, have to say on the current crisis and the perspective for the beer sector. In addition to these two important industry players, I will also have the privilege to update the audience on the state of the European brewing landscape and a similar briefing will be provided from the USA by Bob Pease, CEO of the Brewers Association.

We also have a wealth of qualified speakers who will share their experience and skills regarding how to brew lager when you are a small brewery and how to mature your beers in barrels. We have gathered a very interesting set of sessions and speakers. Not to mention the fourth day, which will be focused on sustainability, a topic that matters for brewers and will count even more in the coming years.

What are the upcoming (short and medium-term) challenges the brewing industry is facing and how can the Forum/The Brewers of Europe help?

P.-O. Bergeron: Undoubtedly the most pressing issue currently is the current COVID crisis. It has put unprecedented pressure on the very business model of many brewers and on the whole business itself of many bars and restaurants. Our focus over the past year has been on ensuring the support is there to ensure that as many of these hospitality establishments as possible are still there to reopen in an economically viable and sustainable manner once the virus has come under control.

It will also have a long-term impact on some parts of the beer market, accelerating some trends such as e-commerce, stimulating new practices, but unfortunately also stopping some businesses totally in their tracks. The recovery will be long but we need to get back to consumers socializing and coming together over good beer.

And environmental sustainability is of course a major challenge, but probably also an opportunity for many businesses. A Green Recovery will be key and there is an opportunity for brewers to drive this collaboratively. Beer and brewers already have a good story of embedding sustainability in their businesses and we have an opportunity to show solidarity, share best practices and ensure that beer and brewing are part of the solution to fight climate change.

I look forward to seeing, virtually at least, many of your readers at the Forum in June and then gathering together over a beer hopefully in the not too distant future.

Thank you very much for the interview, and good luck for the event!