“The economic situation of the breweries is extremely tense,” Nicolo Paganini, President of the Swiss Breweries Association (SBV), said at a press conference on Tuesday. As the brewing process is extremely energy-intensive, rising electricity and gas costs are affecting brewers’ profitability.
However, the situation is also difficult for packaging and the supply of various raw materials: for example, bottle prices have increased significantly. Or for carbon dioxide, which plays an important role in beer production and distribution.
In addition, there are difficulties with the availability of raw materials and packaging material and logistics. This inevitably leads to beer becoming more expensive. “Several providers have announced or already implemented price increases,” SBV director Marcel Kreber told the press in Winterthur. However, Kreber did not provide any information on how high these price increases could be.
The Federal Statistics Office shows a 6.8 percent price increase over the past twelve months in the state consumer price index for beer currently sold in stores. In addition, the media reports in recent months have mentioned five to ten percent price increases in breweries.
It is not yet clear whether the rising prices will reduce beer consumption. In the beer production year 2021/22, beer sales of Swiss breweries increased again for the first time in contrast to the previous two years. Overall, Swiss producers sold 3.64 million hectoliters, 9 percent more than in the previous year, as reported by SBV.
According to the association, higher sales have been recorded, although the first few months of the brewing year are still marked by the restrictions imposed by the corona pandemic. As is known, various restrictions in the field of gastronomy were lifted only in mid-February 2022. For breweries, the year traditionally begins on October 1 and ends in the autumn of the following year.
In total, including imported beers, around 4.69 million hectoliters were consumed in Switzerland from October 21 to September 22. This corresponds to a 6 percent increase compared to 2020/21.
However, the industry is not exactly at the pre-pandemic level. In the 2018/19 beer year, 4.74 million hectoliters of beer were sold, about 5 million liters more than recently. “It will take some time to level up before Corona is reached,” SBV Director Kreber said. “However, the signs are not bad.”
Breweries see the recovery in beer sales as the end of pandemic-related restrictions and sunny, dry weather in spring and summer. The share of domestically produced beer also increased last year. It was 77.6 percent.
The boom in non-alcoholic beers also continued: in 2021/22 their sales rose again by 20.6 percent. According to the SBV Brewery Association, the market share of non-alcoholic beers in Switzerland is currently 5.7 percent. And, as Kreber explains, it is expected to continue to rise over the next five years, rising to ten percent.
(SDA)