In recent years, agricultural and craft beers, produced partly with Italian raw materials, have become excellent in terms of quality, but they need to further grow the market.
Certainties from politicians are also needed, such as maintaining the current reduction on excise duties.
These are the topics addressed in the States General of Beer, which brought together for the first time the protagonists of the brassicol supply chain, organized in Pollenzo (Cn) by Cia-Agricoltori Italiani together with Unionbirrai, with the participation of Patrizio Giacomo La Pietra, undersecretary of Masaf.
"A common front is needed to achieve the objectives, creating a supply chain of raw materials grown entirely in Italy", said Cristiano Fini, president of Cia.
Made in Italy beer has over 1000 excellent breweries which have increased the shared value of the sector, 9.4 billion euros and over 700 million in annual excise duties.
An agricultural supply chain that is growing to have a 100% product with Italian raw materials.
If there is a need for barley malt that exceeds 50% of demand, in the case of hops only 5% of that consumed by Italian producers is produced in our country.
According to Matteo Bartolini, vice president of the CIA, "the sector needs long-term planning, while we ask the institutions to review the 1962 law which regulates the sector and to restore reduced excise duties for breweries up to 60 thousand hectoliters per year in the Milleproroghe decree , suppressed by the Budget Law".
This is echoed by Alfredo Pratolongo of Assobirra, according to whom ""the sector, after a growth of 9% from 1918 to 2022, in 2023 lost a market range of between 5 and 7%.
The trend reversal is due to various structural factors such as exponentially increased costs and decreased consumption, also because excise duties have a heavy impact on the consumer price."
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