Applied arts

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2024/10

Ali Rawech Szami
master brewer
HopTop Brewery

“Hungary’s craft beer market underwent a significant restructuring in recent years. The increase in overheads and raw material prices is putting the sector under severe pressure, while the rise in product prices hasn’t kept up with these costs. Together with a decline in purchasing power, this has led to a setback in the catering sector, so the craft beer market is stagnating”,

says Ali Rawech Szami, master brewer at HopTop Brewery Zrt.

HopTop’s products are typically sold by craft beer specialty stores, craft pubs and large retail chains.

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Availability is key

Botond Prischetzky
brand manager
MONYO Brewing

Botond Prischetzky, brand manager of MONYO Brewing:

“Domestic craft breweries are still in a difficult situation, but this trend is perhaps common around the world. A lot of small breweries opened between 2010 and 2020, dozens of which are struggling to survive after the crises of recent years, and many have already closed. The domestic beer revolution has lost momentum a little, but fortunately the market has been able to grow”.

MONYO is present in the big retail chains and products are also available at many HoReCa partners. They are developing their export markets, and have their own webshop and own restaurant, MONYO Tap House, on Kálvin Square in Budapest. It is essential to make craft beers as widely and easily available as possible.

Béla Bukovinszky
managing director
Szent András Brewery

“Small-scale breweries are always more innovative than large ones due to their size, because small breweries are more flexible and can better fill a market niche”,

says Béla Bukovinszky, managing director of Szent András Brewery.

Sales of beers made in small-scale breweries account for around 3-5% of the total beer market, while in some countries with a more developed beer culture their proportion can be as high as 15-20%. Product development at Szent András is both trend-following and trend-setting.

We can brew good beer now

Márton Sefcsik
business development manager
Mad Scientist

“With a little delay, but the trend is coming: the growth of the small-scale market in Hungary isn’t only slowing down but is also stagnating. Of course it is too early to bury beer and this trend doesn’t affect all market players the same way. Still, it is great to be in the craft beer business in Budapest in 2024: quite a lot of people know how to brew good beer today”,

says Márton Sefcsik, business development manager of Mad Scientist.

The brewery’s B2C webshop is very strong, they have a closed Facebook group for consumers and a loyalty programme, but every retail and wholesale partner is different, so they try to move in harmony with key partners, to make sure everyone finds what they are looking for.

A wide choice of beers is a feature of craft beer bars around the world

Gergely Marton
plant manager
The Beertailor

Gergely Marton, plant manager of The Beertailor:

“The composition of the market keeps changing and it is sensitive to the price of raw materials and energy sources, which is why in recent years several breweries, especially smaller ones, have been forced to close, because they couldn’t recover their rising costs”.

In 2019 Panna Cocktail Kft. started producing The Beertailor and Beerka craft beers in its own brewery. For craft beers most of the raw materials are sourced from abroad, so production costs are twice as big as for large-scale breweries.

For the curious and the gourmet

Miklós Orvos
owner
Czech-Hungarian Trading

“In our product selection the share of craft beers is dynamically increasing. Besides classic lagers, Czech new wave beers have also entered the top flight in Europe (and the world), and their availability and good price-value ratio have made them the most sought-after imported craft beers in Hungary”,

informs Miklós Orvos, owner of Czech-Hungarian Trading Kft., an importer of products (both wholesaler and retailer) from small and medium-sized traditional and craft breweries in the Czech Republic.

One of the best ways to promote craft beers is to organise your own events, says Ali Rawech Szami, where you can build a direct relationship with consumers. HopTop has an event called Hoptoberfest: a three-day craft beer festival at the brewery, with programmes, concerts, workshops and factory visits. HopTop’s product development in the premium category of beers has moved towards barrel-aged beers, which represent a higher quality in both ingredients and processes.

To each their own

In the current market situation maintaining volume, market share and the popularity of small-scale beers can be a result, argues Béla Bukovinszky. They participate in a lot of festivals, but these events are more useful in brand building – sales volumes here are marginal. Direct cooperation with large breweries is ruled out by the relevant law, but as several managers of multinational breweries have already stated, they would prefer the acquisition of individual small-scale breweries anyway. Most Szent András cooperations with retail chains are good and the latter are open to working together. Botond Prischetzky sees several possible directions in the development of premium+ beers. The relatively narrow group of consumers who know these beers (NEIPA, sour ale, imperial stout) know that these cost a lot to make and are willing to pay higher prices for them. The other direction is that a growing number of breweries are producing value-for-money champion beers in in-and-out promotions for the big chains, which the big breweries can’t really do.

There are places that “teach” you about craft beer with tasting sessions – here’s a tasting menu from a Japanese pub