After Ukraine invasion German and Czech brewers pull out of Russia

Germany | The two largest brewers in the Czech Republic, Budweiser Budvar and Plzeňský Prazdroj (Pilsner Urquell), as well as several large German brewers have stopped their beer exports to Russia. “In the current crisis and extremely uncertain situation, we have suspended all production and supplies intended for the Russian market. We consider commercial issues as secondary,” a spokesperson for the state-owned brewer Budweiser Budvar told the website praguemorning.cz on 3 March 2022.

AB-InBev ends 2021 on a solid note and forecasts steady annual growth

Belgium | AB-InBev forecast on 24 February 2022 that its profit would increase this year, in line with its medium-term growth range, after ending 2021 with stronger results than expected.

Germany’s commissioner for drugs wants to raise legal drinking age to 18

Germany | The Federal Government Commissioner for Addiction and Drugs, Burkhard Blienert, a Social Democrat, has spoken out in favour of raising the legal drinking age for beer and wine to 18, from currently 16. “For me, there are many medical arguments in favour of raising the legal drinking age for beer, wine and sparkling wine to 18,” he told the newspaper Die Welt on 18 February 2022.

The Netherlands | Heineken said the longer-term outlook has become cloudier as inflationary pressures squeeze consumers, raising the risk that they will cut back on beer.

Denmark | Carlsberg warned that organic operating profit could grow between zero percent and 7 percent in 2022, down from a 12.5 percent hike in 2021, citing higher costs and continued coronavirus restrictions. In other words, if the worse comes to the worst, operating profit could be flat this year.

United Kingdom | BrewDog found itself back at the centre of controversy, after a BBC Disclosure documentary, which was aired on 24 January 2022, and featured former as well as current staff, made fresh allegations over a “toxic culture” and criticised CEO and co-founder James Watt.

United Kingdom | First they took on Dublin, then Edinburgh. Now it is London. Diageo will open a microbrewery and culture centre for its Guinness brand at a historic brewery site in London’s Covent Garden late next year, the company said on 31 January 2022. It plans to spend GBP 73 million (USD 98 million) on the project.

The Netherlands | There is no light at the end of the tunnel, the Association of Dutch Brewers complained in mid-January 2022, having just emerged from a snap lockdown, which lasted from Christmas 2021 until 14 January 2022, and forced the hospitality industry into hibernation.

The Netherlands | This just goes to show that punters are still willing to put their money behind upstart craft brewers. EUR 5 million (USD 5.7 million) seemed like an ambitious target when Brouwerij Frontaal announced its latest crowdfunding campaign, its fourth, in September 2021. Nevertheless, the Breda-based brewery managed to raise as much in four months, Dutch media reported on 15 January 2022.

Belgium | For years, the Opwijk production site, where the Affligem brand is brewed, has been threatened with closure. Now Heineken is getting serious and said the 400,000 hl production site, some 20 km northwest of Brussels, will be shuttered this summer. According to the Dutch brewer, it is too small and fails to reach environmental benchmarks.