The Alsatian brewer Kronenbourg saw its sales fall by 10% in 2020, due to the pandemic and its consequences for drinking establishments and festivals, as well as the good functioning of its Obernai brewery.
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"The slowdown of the global beer market is reflected in SAS Kronenbourg by a decrease of 10% of total sales (5.1 million hectoliters) to reach a total turnover of 844 million euros"
in 2020, the group said on Wednesday. Sales have logically declined by 48% in out-of-home consumption, due to the 23-week closure of drinking establishments and the shutdown of festivals, which together represent 30% of the group's sales in a normal year. , according to its CEO Rémy Sharps.
In supermarkets, the group's sales
"remained stable"
, while the sector generally benefited from a shift in consumption to this channel where beer sales increased by 11.3% in volume and 15.7%. in value, according to Rémy Sharps.
"There is roughly between a third and 40% of the volume that is not sold in 'coffee, hotel, restaurant' that you find in supermarkets, on average over the last 15 months,"
said the CEO.
Half of production lines shut down
But the Obernai brewery, hit in the heart by a critical health situation in the Grand-Est region, was unable to take advantage of this partial compensation. As of mid-March 2020 and for six to eight weeks, the
“biggest brewery in Europe”
has not been able to operate at full capacity to fully supply its retail customers.
“Half of the production lines”
were shut down during the first two weeks of confinement, said Rémy Sharps, estimating the loss of production at around 200,000 hectoliters of beer.
This explains a poor performance compared to the entire sector, whose sales fell by 7 to 10% as a whole, according to an estimate by Kronenbourg.
If he does not communicate on the decline in his result, Rémy Sharps indicates however that his group has remained profitable.
Resistance to the crisis fostered by the development of its product portfolio.
Indeed, specialty beers, craft beers and non-alcoholic, more profitable, currently represent 35% of the group's portfolio, against 10% in 2012, when Rémy Sharps arrived, according to the latter.
And he hopes to reach 50% in 2025.
100 million euros of investment
With this in mind, the group is continuing its investment program of 100 million euros, which aims in particular to increase and modernize its production capacities.
In order to increase its aura in “craft” and tasting beers, the group has also announced an organizational merger with House of Beer, its subsidiary specializing in this type of beer.
Overall, Rémy Sharps forecasts a year 2021 similar to 2020 for the sector, given the closure of bars and restaurants since January.
For Kronenbourg, he expects better sales in supermarkets.
Kronenbourg, a subsidiary of the Danish Carlsberg, employs a thousand people in France.
