Summer beers, here are the regional brands in the beach challenge

In beers, the Italian championship of summer 2024 is being played out on a regional basis and between three players: representing Sardinia is Ichnusa, for Sicily there is Birra Messina Cristalli di Sale and for Apulia there is Raffo. These are the three brands that are vying for the territorial beer market. A segment that opened a few years ago and has grown steadily, thanks to the investments of the big names in the sector, who have seen in local labels the answer to Italians' growing interest in localism.

"Today's consumers are very price conscious, but there are values for which they are still willing to spend more. And Italianness, declined in regionality, is certainly one of these," explains Marco Pellizzoni, GfK GfK Italy Consumer Panel Commercial Director.

The first is that of Ichnusa, which, according to Gfk data, has won almost 8 million new household buyers over the past year. The link with its homeland, Sardinia, made Ichnusa a differentiating element when Heineken (who took it over in 1986) decided to distribute it throughout Italy, investing 73 million euros to expand the Assemini brewery.
"Today Ichnusa is the number one brand both for brand strength and meaningfulness, i.e. for emotional connection with consumers," comments marketing manager Michela Filippi. "And it has established itself because it is authentic and proudly expresses the values of the Sardinian soul. This is also confirmed by the new advertising campaign: a reverse marketing operation to 'distance' itself from the abandonment of glass bottles, which will accompany the entire summer season.

Also part of the Heineken group's portfolio is Birra Messina, which has made a name for itself on the domestic market with the Trapani salt crystal version produced in partnership with Birrificio Messina and which, according to Gfk, will increase its customer base by more than 3.4 million households by 2023. Also emphasising its regionality is the 2024 novelty: Vivace, a lager enriched with the notes of Sicilian lemons.

A beer that competes with Nastro Azzurro Stile Capri, with which Peroni wanted to express the citrus flavour of the Italian summer and position itself in a national ritual such as the aperitif. But for thePeroni group, 2024 is above all the year of Raffo, the historic Taranto-based label that has become the group's third largest-selling brand and was relaunched last year, with expanded distribution and a new brand identity.
"Raffo embodies the values of Italian quality and territoriality at the basis of the path of premiumisation of our product portfolio that we have been pursuing for some years now," says Viviana Manera, marketing director of Birra Peroni. "That is why we are investing in this authentically Apulian brand. This was demonstrated by the arrival of Raffo Lavorazione Grezza, made from unrefined Apulian cereals, which exceeded sales forecasts by more than 50%.