In many German breweries there is still a mood of crisis - only the large companies are back to normal business.
However, there is still bad news for consumers.
Berlin – The energy crisis and the rise in raw material prices are also hitting German breweries enormously.
According to an analysis by the German Brewers' Association (DBB), in addition to the costs of gas and electricity, brewing malt and packaging materials in particular have recently increased drastically.
Carbon dioxide, the price of which had almost doubled in the meantime, was temporarily no longer available on the market, so that in 2022 individual companies in the beverage industry had to stop production.
However, the situation here has eased considerably.
Beer prices rise: Breweries pass higher costs on to customers
“Inflation is putting a lot of pressure on the economy.
We have to expect that the costs will remain at a high level in 2023 and in some cases will continue to rise," says DBB General Manager Holger Eichele.
The persistently high cost pressure is the biggest challenge for the brewing industry in the new year, alongside maintaining a secure and affordable energy supply.
Above all, sharply rising costs for raw materials and preliminary products as well as personnel and logistics are a burden on companies.
This will also affect prices, according to the DBB forecast.
Numerous breweries in Germany are facing an extremely difficult financial year and have already announced price increases for 2023.
In view of the sharp rise in production costs, German brewers even consider a price of 7.50 euros for a pub beer to be possible.
That happens "when breweries and restaurateurs pass on their additional costs in full to the consumer," said the deputy chairman of the Berlin-Brandenburg Brewery Association, Stefan Fritsche, of the
picture
.
Then "at the end of this year we will be at 7.50 euros for half a liter of beer."
But not everyone is so bad.
While medium-sized companies in particular are struggling to survive, the big players are celebrating huge profits.
The turnover of the Krombacher Group rose by 8.3 percent in 2022 to a record high of 892.3 million euros.
The Warsteiner brewery also sold significantly more beer after the restart of gastronomy, music festivals and shooting matches.
Sales of the Warsteiner brand increased by 9.2 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year.
Breweries have been “working in crisis mode for almost three years”
According to the assessment of the German Brewers' Association, the industry has proven to be extremely resilient in recent years and has generally been able to assert itself successfully in the crises.
"Many breweries were able to use the experiences from the Corona crisis, even if the dimensions are much larger today," says Eichele.
“We have been working in a permanent crisis mode for almost three years now.
Cost increases and unexpected bottlenecks in the supply chain have been with us since the beginning of the pandemic.
Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine has further aggravated the problems.
Today, however, the brewing industry is much more resilient than it used to be.”
For the months of January to November 2022, the German brewing industry, with sales of 81.2 million hectoliters of beer (excluding non-alcoholic varieties), is up 3.2 percent on the crisis year 2021. This is only a positive signal at first glance , because in the pre-Corona year 2019, beer sales in the same period were 85.2 million hectoliters.
The beer sales figures for the whole of 2022 will be published by the Federal Statistical Office at the beginning of February.
(ph/dpa)
List of rubrics: © Angelika Warmuth/dpa +++ dpa picture radio +++
