Beer, consumption and production down: summer season decisive for reversing trend

Consumption and production down by more than 5% annually. Imports (-7.5%) and exports (-5.4%) are also decreasing. The main economic indicators for the Italian brewing industry in 2023 are all negative, according to the latest Assobirra Annual Report. And if it is true that the minus sign comes after an excellent 2022 and in general after a path of growth that has been consolidated over the years, it is also true that the first months of 2024 do not give positive signs for a sector that employs more than 100 thousand operators in about a thousand companies (including breweries, microbreweries and maltsters), creating, according to the report's estimates, "a shared value of 10.2 billion euros".

Approximately 50 per cent of beer in Italy is sold in the summer, and this year the good weather has been a disappointment in many parts of Italy. 'We will have to wait for the trend in the coming months to see if there will be a turnaround. Otherwise, the outlook will remain negative," commented Assobirra President Alfredo Pratolongo, "because the partial data we have available on the first months of the year remain in negative territory.

At the end of May 2024, compared to the previous 12 months, according to NielsenIq surveys for Food24, the beer market has nevertheless slowed down the decline in volume of last year: in supermarkets a negative trend of -1% was recorded compared to -3.1% in 2022. By contrast, the value of sales exceeded EUR 2.2 billion, "up 6.7 per cent year-on-year, thanks to a 7.9 per cent price increase", NielsenIq noted.

The negative picture is also mitigated if we look at medium-term data: according to the Annual report,in 2023, production in Italy stood at 17.4 million hectolitres compared to 18.3 million in 2022, but surpassing pre-pandemic levels (the 17.3 million hectolitres of 2019) and almost equalling 2021. So for consumption, which although down from the record two years ago (22.5 million hectolitres), stood at 21.2 million hectolitres, 10% higher than 10 years ago and which would have been the all-time high before 2022. "We need to understand when growth will start again, but in the medium to long term the forecasts remain positive," Pratologo continues, "because beer in Italy has now become a mealtime drink, identified with informal conviviality, appreciated for its characteristics of lightness, versatility, naturalness and low alcohol content. A growing trend is precisely represented by alcohol-free beers: according to NielsenIq, these products, "although still marginal (2.3% volume share) mitigate the negative trend of the total category, registering a substantial growth in volume of 7%, thanks to the constant expansion of the offer that has been recorded for some years now". In addition, "blonde beers with an alcoholic content above 5.5° and flavoured beers are the only two segments among alcoholic beers to grow (+4.3% and +4.5% in volume respectively)". Good results also for beers with territorial and regional characterisation.

In the same way, theout-of-home sector is holding up, where craft beers are probably more entrenched, accounting for around 2.5% of the market. "Although we do not have up-to-date figures (the Unionbirrai-Obiart report, a laboratory of the University of Florence, is produced every two years, ed.), the sentiment among our producers is for a slight contraction in 2023, which is physiological after the post-pandemic boom. But the growth of the craft beer sector is continuing in this first half of 2024,' says Vittorio Ferraris, general manager of Unionbirrai, the trade association of small independent craft breweries. We believe that further sap to the sector can be provided by the new regulations that we have also requested from the Dl Agricoltura: unbureaucratisation that frees small breweries from pleonastic tasks that cost money and time, 50% excise discount for microbreweries up to 10,000 hectolitres per year, and beer tourism that takes up what has been done by the various regional regulations approved so far".