Germany: Beer is becoming more expensive

Germany | The cost-of-living crisis has reached supermarkets. While plenty of shelves remain empty as retailers and suppliers haggle over conditions to keep inflation down, beer prices have crept up. Super-deals of EUR 9.99 (USD 11) for a crate of beer (10 litres) have become a rare sight.

For decades, German punters could trust the supers to always have a national beer brand on promotion at slightly below EUR 10 for a crate. With a bit of strategic shopping and pantry-loading, they would never have to pay more than EUR 10 for their favourite brand throughout the year. On average, national beer brands sold a whopping 70 percent of volumes on discount.

Keeping prices low

Because brewers had taught punters to buy beer on promotion only, they would rather absorb increased costs for raw materials, energy, wages, and logistics than pass them on. Not any longer.

According to Nielsen IQ, from January to April 2023, the promotional prices for beer averaged at EUR 1.18 per litre. Converted to a crate with 20 bottles of 0.5 litres each, that is EUR 11.80 (USD 13.30).

In 2022, the average promotional price was only EUR 11.50 per crate, in 2021 EUR 11.10 per crate.

The price of draught beer in the on-premise has already risen across the board. Prices beyond the EUR 5 mark for 0.5 litre beer are now ubiquitous.

German beer consumption has been in long-term decline. It dropped to 91.8 litres per capita in 2022, from 106 litres a decade ago (Statista).