Brewers of Europe launch diversity database

DEI | The Brewers of Europe are delighted to announce the launch of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) database, which will serve as a hub for showcasing best practices from European brewers and value chain partners. This database will allow others within the sector to take inspiration and drive further and more effective uptake of DEI practices across the industry.

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UK top lager brands: international labels lead

United Kingdom | If you look at the list of the ten best-selling beers in the UK in 2022, nine of them are international brands but all are brewed in the UK: Carling (originated in Canada), Foster’s (Australia), Moretti (Italy), Peroni (Italy), Coors (USA), Stella Artois (Belgium), Carlsberg (Denmark), San Miguel (Spain), and Amstel (Netherlands).

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Heineken’s closure of its Schiltigheim brewery could prove a challenge

France | When Heineken announced the closure of its Alsatian brewery in November 2022, and the loss of more than 200 jobs, many observers pretended the decision came out of the blue.

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Heineken’s price hikes met with criticism by publicans

Europe | Publicans have been warned: Heineken said in December 2022 that it would push through price increases more consistently. Ireland’s publicans were the first to get a taste of things to come.

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Europe’s beer sector ready to return, stronger and better, in 2023

Perspectives | Europe’s beer sector is optimistic about returning to its pre-pandemic heights in 2023, The Brewers of Europe Secretary General Pierre-Olivier Bergeron said today at the ninth edition of Beer Serves Europe in Brussels on December, 8.

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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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Beer Serves Europe returns in December

Save the date | After a two-year hiatus due to the Covid pandemic and the restrictions placed on large social gatherings, the Brewers of Europe recently announced the long-awaited return of #BeerServesEurope.

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Spring barley harvest in Europe

Better than expected | The quantitative results of the spring barley harvest in Europe have been better than expected in some regions. The harvests in Scandinavia and in the UK are the main contributors. In France and Germany, too, the results are better than initially expected, although the quality is quite heterogeneous after the hot and dry weather.

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Fi Europe Innovation Awards now open for entries

New category | Entries for the renowned Fi Europe Innovation awards are now open, and applications can be submitted online until 7 October. The majority of the awards are only open to Fi Europe exhibitors but, this year, a brand new category “Food Training & Education” has been added, which is open to non-exhibitors.

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Heineken, Carlsberg, and Budweiser still found on shelves in Moscow

Russia | Sometimes sanctions against Russia take a long time to bite. In late July, shops in Moscow were still selling off stockpiles of international beer brands, Reuters’ correspondents reported.

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Spring barley report for Europe 2022

Without surplus into new harvest | The supply of spring malting barley in the EU is assessed quite differently. What is certain is that the market is entering the new season without any surpluses from the old harvest.

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Sales overflow for Diageo and AB-InBev

Europe | The easing of covid restrictions has driven punters back into bars, despite soaring inflation in the US, Europe, and other parts of the world.

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Storytelling matters

Creative beers | At its premiere at the European Beer Star competition held in 2021, the new specialty beer category “Free-Style Beer” immediately evoked an outpouring of excitement and enthusiasm. More than 60 breweries submitted their beery creations for consideration, which otherwise would not have fit into any other category. Along with beer quality, aspects such as the concept behind the beer and its story were part of the evaluation. But what is it exactly that makes this particular category of specialty beers so special? This article provides insights and background information to the new style category at the European Beer Star, in which storytelling plays a central role.

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European Beer Star 2022: Registration ends July

Beer competition | The registration deadline for the European Beer Star 2022 is approaching: Breweries can still submit their beers until 1 July 2022.

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Rumoured buyers for Baltika: Turkish Efes joins Israel’s CBC and a Russian soft drink firm

Russia | When releasing its first quarter 2022 results on 28 April, Danish brewer Carlsberg said it was seeing buying interest. It did not name any potential buyers. However, Carlsberg admitted it was difficult to say how long the process would take and what price it could achieve for the Russian business it put up for sale.

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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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What will AB-InBev do about Ukraine?

Belgium | AB-InBev announced on 22 April 2022 that it will sell its stake in the joint venture it operates in Russia with the Turkish group Anadolu Efes, and probably to the latter, while taking a USD 1.1 billion hit. But it did not say what it plans to do with his brewing activities in Ukraine, which are also covered by the joint venture.

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The long read: Ukrainian brewers in times of war

Ukraine | Russia’s invasion has wrought havoc on Ukraine, a country of 44 million people. By late April 2022, some estimated 5 million people had fled the country, while more than 7 million people had been displaced internally. Since Russia ended its siege on Kyiv at the end of March and shifted its troops to the east, more than a million Ukrainians are said to have returned to resume their lives, their businesses – and, not least, protect their properties from looting.

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Europe needs to keep up its support for the beer sector

Call for support | As Europe continues to battle the pandemic, it must maintain its support measures for the beer sector, The Brewers of Europe said at the end of December 2021. The call comes as The Brewers of Europe, the voice of more than 12 000 breweries, released its 2021 European Beer Trends Statistics Report, which revealed how overall beer sales had collapsed in the first year of the pandemic.

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Malting barley in Europe: Harvest 2021

Short supply | The supply of spring malting barley in Europe remains tight. A smaller area and very heterogeneous qualities characterise this year's harvest.

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Big Brewers report mixed results for third quarter 2021

Europe | All things considered, AB-InBev had a good third quarter. It sold 3.4 percent more beer in the July-to-September period compared with 2020, which led it to revise its forecast upwards: It now expects annual EBITDA to grow between 10 percent and 12 percent, compared with an 8-12 percent growth forecasted earlier.

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Heterogeneous harvest in Europe

Malting barley report | In addition to a smaller acreage of spring barley in Europe, there are now heterogeneous harvest results. Prices are showing a firm trend.

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Europe’s spirits firms emerge from covid crisis stronger than expected

Europe | Diageo, LVMH and Davide Campari Milano ended July 2021 with their shares at record highs. While LVMH’s 53 percent growth in organic revenue in the first six months of this year was driven largely by the dominant fashion and leather goods division, the Moët Hennessy wine and spirits arm achieved a sales increase of 56 percent on the coronavirus-crippled 2020.

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Beer Strategies Round Table: Getting the future right through Big Data

Europe | In an ideal world, a marketer knows what her customers want even before they do. Beer marketers think they have got closer to this, thanks to the clever use of data. As they see it, the world contains an unimaginably vast amount of digital information. This makes it possible to do many things that previously could not be done: provide fresh insights, spot business trends, unlock sources of economic value.

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The future of draught beer

Europe | As the light at the end of the tunnel slowly becomes brighter and vaccination programmes progress, restaurants and bars can once again look forward to opening their doors to thirsty patrons. However, we should not forget that breweries and the hospitality industry have suffered greatly during the pandemic, above all brewers’ draught beer sales.

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Ball Corp. planning to build new plants in the UK and Russia

Increasing capacity | Aluminium drinks cans are the world’s most widely recycled beverage packaging with an 82 % recycling rate in the UK and 76 % across Europe. Now Ball Corporation, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of recyclable aluminium beverage packaging, is planning to significantly increase its manufacturing capacity, with new facilities in the UK and Russia.

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Brewers sign new EU Code of Conduct on sustainable food systems

Europe | The Brewers of Europe, an industry body, has added its name to a new EU-wide pledge to support the shift towards sustainable food systems. By signing up, Europe’s brewers pledged to pursue and build upon their six-year long commitment to label ingredients and energy on beers across Europe.

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BrewDog and Mikkeller embroiled in the culture wars

Europe | Looks like the US culture wars have spread to Europe, turbocharged by social media. BrewDog became the first target. But Danish craft brewer Mikkeller was not far behind. On the morning of 12 June 2021, an anonymous group put up several posters outside Mikkeller’s Copenhagen headquarters and accused the brewer of sexism and racism via an Instagram account.

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Patent on barley and beer upheld

Germany | The European Patent Office (EPO) has rejected a joint appeal filed by NGOs against a patent on barley owned by Carlsberg (EP2373154). This was reported on 8 June 2021. The Board of Appeal will publish its reasons for the judgement at a later stage.

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Brewers of Europe Forum: Make beer more sustainable, innovative, diverse and responsible

Belgium | It was a big event by any standards. Though conducted virtually over four days, the Brewers of Europe Forum (1–4 June 2021) attracted an unprecedented number of delegates: nearly 2 500 industry members attended the Forum’s 19 sessions, which covered a wide range of topics, from recycling and recovery to innovative brewing techniques, beer styles, marketing and packaging.