A sad state of affairs
Poland’s leading brewer Zywiec Group, which is controlled by Heineken, has reported 105 million zlotys in net losses for 2001 while the group’s total sales increased 12 per cent to 2.63 billion zlotys. Heineken’s four Polish breweries sold 7.97 million hl of beer and increased their market share to 31.8 per cent from 30.9 per cent. Zywiec’s poor results are the consequence of high restructuring costs and costs arising from the integration of new operations into the group. In 2001 beer sales in Poland went up 0.2 per cent from 25 million hl (2000) against a 7.0 per cent growth in 2000. Weakened domestic demand has been blamed on Poland’s high excise rates which are among the highest in Europe. Recent restrictions on beer advertising may have also had a negative impact on sales..
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