Beer consumption flat
Figures released by the German Brewers’ Association for the first six months 2002 indicate that it was beer mixes which reaped the benefits of the increase in beer consumption (0.9% or 410,000 hl) to 47.9 million hl. Given that the sales of beer mixes rose 37 per cent to 390,000 hl during the first half of 2002, it hardly requires a rocket scientist to work out that regular beer consumption must have stagnated during that period. This has hit hard the majority of Germany’s 1,200 breweries as only 100 of them produce beer mixes.
The future looks grim for Germany’s brewers come 2003 and the introduction of a deposit on non-returnable containers. These days no one knows how consumers will respond to this price increase. In 2001, beer sales were 107..
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