AB-InBev cuts craft brewery staff to focus on big beer brands and spirits

USA – As the Big Brewers move with the market, strategy swings are to be expected. But AB-InBev’s recent cuts to its craft brewing personnel suggest that a major “portfolio rebalancing” is underway.

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Has beer become too expensive? AB-InBev reports weak fourth quarter 2022

Belgium | AB-InBev reported an unexpected fall in quarterly sales volumes after two price increases in the United States. But American beer drinkers are now getting over their “sticker shock”, CEO Michel Doukeris assured investors.

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Heineken banks on premiumisation strategy as volumes grew in 2022

Netherlands | The Dutch brewer’s volume sales returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2022, with premium brands outperforming the rest of the portfolio, Heineken reported on 15 February.

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UK pub chain Wetherspoon has put up nearly 40 pubs for sale

United Kingdom | Wetherspoon hopes to sell off 39 of its 842 venues across the UK amid the cost-of-living crisis. The sales are reportedly due to spiralling inflation, pushing up bills for staff and supplies. Luckily, the pubs will remain open and trading under the Wetherspoon brand until they have found a buyer.

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Heineken to close or sell its Schiltigheim brewery in France by 2025

France – Heineken’s list of brewery closures is getting longer. After Edinburgh’s Caledonian brewery, Belgium’s Affligem brewery, Romania’s Constanta brewery and the Dutch Brand brewery, Heineken now said it will shutter its brewery in Schiltigheim, one of France’s largest.

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Big Brewers see beer sales rise in the third quarter 2022

Europe | Put the blame on European punters, facing a cost of living crisis, that the Big Brewers need to turn elsewhere for growth. AB-InBev, Heineken and Carlsberg reported a hike in beer sales in their third quarter results. But they had to admit that their performance could have been even better had not European sales proved lagging.

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Another tough year for Italy’s craft brewers

Italy | Galloping prices for gas, bottles, and CO₂, as well as the erosion of consumers' purchasing power: If the recovery of tourism has supported beer consumption up until now, the end of summer will be the real test.

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Carlsberg CEO: Polish beer sales drop amid Ukraine refugee crisis

Poland | 2021 was the third year in a row of decline in beer consumption in Poland and the deepest in a decade. Since 2018, the market has contracted by as much as 5 million hl beer. The first quarter 2022 saw the trend continuing.

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Dutch beer consumption up slightly in 2021, but still below 2019 levels

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.

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German brewers post huge losses again in 2021

Germany | The covid pandemic also led to massive losses for the German brewing industry in 2021. According to the German Brewers' Association, beer sales dropped 3.4 percent in 2021, compared to the previous year's record decline of 5.5 percent.

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Prices for beer in South Africa have risen modestly despite excise hike

South Africa | Official data, published in August 2021, show that white wine has seen the biggest price increase, rising by an average of 12.8 percent between June 2020 and June 2021. This was followed by whiskey (+8.1 percent), red wine (+6.7 percent) and spirit coolers and ciders (+4.5 percent). The average price of beer has increased by only 3.3 percent over the 12-month period, the statistics body said.

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Diageo delivered strong growth in net sales in Full Year 2021

United Kingdom | Drinks group Diageo has beaten expectations for full-year sales as it gears up for the reopening of hospitality venues across Europe. On 29 July 2021 it reported net sales of GBP 12.7 billion (USD 17.5 billion) in the year to the end of June, up 8.3 percent on the previous year, but still slightly below 2019 sales which stood at GBP 12.8 billion.

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German beer sales continue to slide during first half of 2021

Germany | Beer sales dropped 2.7 percent or 1.1 million hl in the first half of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. As the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported on 30 July 2021, German breweries sold around 42 million hl beer in the first half of 2021.

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Liquor industry hit hard by looting and property destruction

South Africa | Hundreds of liquor stores and several beer warehouses in KwaZulu-Natal (Durban) and Gauteng (Johannesburg) were ransacked by rioters during the recent unrest. By some estimate 800 outlets were vandalised and looted.

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Heineken ups stake in United Breweries in India

India | As in the old adage “everything comes to him who waits”, Heineken, on 23 June 2021, bought 39.6 million shares in United Breweries (UBL), which pushed its holding to 61.5 percent from 46.5 percent previously.

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Beer consumption in Italy drops 11 percent in 2020

Italy | The covid pandemic hit Italy’s economy earlier and more severely than other large eurozone economies. In 2020, Italy’s economy shrank 8.9 percent, the second-largest contraction after Spain, and it still has further to go than Germany and France to recover its pre-pandemic scale.

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Drinking al fresco: Dutch government eases lockdown restrictions

The Netherlands | After repeated threats from desperate publicans that they will reopen their venues regardless of the lockdown, the Dutch government relented. On 28 April 2021, outdoor terraces were reopened for guests from noon until 6 pm. Still, all sales of alcohol are prohibited from 8 pm until 6 am. This applies to hotels, takeout and delivery and all other outlets selling alcohol.

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Beer hospitality to drive Europe’s recovery

Belgium | The figures make grim reading. Europe’s brewers lost more than 40 percent in on-premise beer sales in 2020, due to covid restrictions and bar closures. Last year, beer sold in the hospitality sector dropped to 75 million hl from 126 million hl in 2019.

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Brewers condemn government’s heavy-handed halt on alcohol sales

South Africa | It was another blow to the country’s brewers that the government decided to curtail alcohol sales over the Easter weekend – especially as they were only given two days’ notice. The Beer Association of South Africa (BASA) criticised the decision, saying it is “unnecessary” and has “no valid basis”.

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US craft brewers sold 9 percent less beer in 2020

USA | For once the doom-mongers were wrong. Restrictions to prevent the spread of covid-19 in 2020 did not force thousands of craft brewers out of business, The Brewers Association (BA) revealed on 8 April 2021.

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German beer consumption hit record low in 2020

Germany | The country’s 1500 breweries sold 87 million hl beer in 2020 – a decline of 5.5 percent over 2019, the Federal Statistical Office reported on 1 February 2021.

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Carlsberg’s volumes down 3.6 percent in 2020

Denmark | Carlsberg’s 2020 results were affected by the significant impact of the pandemic on the beer market in general, and the on-trade in particular. Volumes sales declined 3.6 percent to 130 million hl, of which 20 million hl were non-beer, the firm said on 5 February 2021.

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Diageo’s sales fall in six months to December 2020

United Kingdom | The world’s major drinks company, Diageo, reported net sales of GBP 6.9 billion (USD 9.4 billion) in the six months to 31 December 2020, down 4.5 percent over the same period in 2019. According to Diageo, organic growth of 1 percent during the first half was offset by “unfavourable exchange rates”.

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Japanese beer market down 9 percent in 2020

Japan | Brewer Kirin is estimated to have ranked top in sales of beer and beer-like drinks in 2020, overtaking rival Asahi for the first time in eleven years, the website mainichi.jp reports.

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Sapporo’s collab beer will go on sale despite spelling error on cans

Japan | Jointly developed by Sapporo and Family Mart, one of Japan’s largest chains of convenience stores, the beer called Kaitakushi Bakushu Shitate, or “Kaitakushi Beer Tailored” and named after the country’s first brewery, was to hit shelves in January 2021.

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Korea’s on-premise suffers as punters flog to the supermarkets

Korea | Before covid-19, South Korea was one of the leading markets for booze. Beer and soju were consumed the most. What is more, one in two beers was sold in bars and restaurants. As the pandemic has prevented people from enjoying get-togethers and socialising, the beer market is undergoing a dramatic change.

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Constellation Brands saw sales of Corona rise in 2020

USA | Americans drank plenty of Corona and Modelo beers while being stuck at home during the pandemic, boosting Constellation Brands’ third quarter results (until end of November 2020) beyond investors’ estimates.

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US beer sales in 2020 almost unaffected by covid-19

USA | The NBWA, the beer distributors’ industry body, says that Americans were consuming virtually the same volume of beer in a year-over-year analysis. But within the segment there have been remarkable shifts.

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Australian breweries in 2020: keeping spirits high

Australia | As can be expected, the coronavirus crisis will have impacted brewers’ sales adversely, but insiders are hard pressed to come up with an estimate. Most likely, beer sales will be down in the mid-single digits in 2020, but the decline will probably hit the Big Brewers harder than the independents.

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Australia’s Coopers breweries sees sales rise during lockdown

Australia | Adelaide-based Coopers brewery is crediting a consumer trend towards local beer brands, and its shrewd move to more canned products, for a 3.9 percent rise in volume sales in its 2019-20 financial year, ended 30 June.