Heineken wants to buy remaining shares of Poland’s brewer Zywiec

Poland | If all goes to plan, Heineken will take Poland’s number two brewer, Grupa Zywiec, from the Warsaw Stock Exchange. In a transaction, announced on 18 October, the Dutch brewer acquired PLN 1.4 billion (USD 299 million) worth of shares from Harbin BV, the Dutch investment vehicle of the Australian barrister Allan Myers, 77.

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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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Poland hikes excise to curb alcohol consumption

Poland | Following the recent excise hike, it is feared that Polish consumers could develop a new habit: self-importing their beer from neighbouring countries like Germany and the Czech Republic, where it is far cheaper.

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It’s the law: No e-commerce for Polish craft brewers

Poland | Craft brewers were caught between a rock and a hard place during the pandemic, when the Polish government put the country under two lockdowns, lasting from March to May 2020 and from October 2020 to May 2021. As hospitality venues were forced to shut, craft brewers could not pivot to e-commerce as they did elsewhere in Europe because of an ancient alcohol law from 1983, which does not mention internet sales (unheard of then). Despite their best lobbying efforts, the government insisted that this omission means e-commerce is illegal and refused to amend the law.

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Surplus despite heterogeneous qualities in Europe

Malting barley report | The 2019 spring barley harvest has been largely traded in Europe. France and Great Britain served the market early and with low priced offers. Despite the qualitatively inconsistent and in some cases very weak supply, the European market assumes a surplus and maltsters nearly operate at full capacity.