Barth report: Germany still world’s 5th largest beer market
A sure way to find out that you are getting on in age is perusing the annual Barth Report for Germany’s ranking in global beer output. In 2000 Germany ranked third behind the U.S. and China. By 2012 it had dropped to fifth rank among the 40 largest beer producing countries, behind China, the U.S., Brazil and Russia, with a beer output of nearly 95 million hl.
At a recent press conference, Regine Barth, co-owner of Joh Barth & Son, reported that Africa now shows the highest growth rates in the global production of beer. In 2012, global beer output increased by only 22 million hl. Africa alone accounted for more than 50 percent of that increase, thus outpacing China. Total beer production world-wide was around 1.8 billion hl. The top 40 beer producing countries represented almost 92 percent of it. Which means that the other 130 countries, where beer is brewed, share the remaining 8 percent.
When looking at the list of the 40 largest brewing group in 2012 (put together by the French beverage economist Germain Hansmaennel), one can see that there are now five German brewing groups included, whereas before there were only three.
The Radeberger Group ranked 20th, followed by cheap beer producer Oettinger (27th), the Bitburger Brewery Group (35th), Krombacher (36th) and the Heineken joint venture Brau Holding International (39th).
However, the relative prominence of German brewers in the table is due to the fact that several brewers merged or were taken over, allowing smaller German operators to move up a few ranks. But to put things into perspective: together, the biggest German brewing groups account for merely 2.2 percent of global beer production. The biggest brewers – AB-InBev, SABMiller, Heineken, Carlsberg and China Resource Brewery – control about half of world beer production.
But there is also an opposite trend to increasing concentration: the number of craft brewers is rising. While they were initially a mostly U.S. phenomenon, craft brewers can be found in many countries, such as Italy and Japan.
The Barth-Haas Group is the leading hop industry player with a global market share of about 30 percent, said Ms Barth. In the financial year ended 31 July 2013, the group’s turnover was EUR 220 million as in the previous year. The group employs about 600 people.
