Hold my beer! – the beer market accepts the challenge

Domestic sales of the five biggest breweries in Hungary were 3% higher in 2022 than in the previous year. More than 6 million hectolitres of beer were sold. Production costs skyrocketed last year, in part because Ukraine is one of the biggest cereal exporters in the world. Glass bottle prices also increased, as production stopped in Ukrainian factories. Plus each phase of the beer brewing process requires lots of energy, the price of which also jumped last year. To make things worse, the government raised the excise duty on beer by 10%.

After a year featuring price increases in 2022, this year also holds many uncertainties for the beer market

Dr. Sándor Kántor
executive director
Association of Hungarian Brewers

Dr Sándor Kántor, executive director of the Association of Hungarian Brewers:

“Beer companies had to increase prices several times last year, but the price growth was smaller than the inflation rate. This means that the profitability of brewing and selling beer was smaller for every brewery than they had expected.”

Canned beer is unbeatable

Just like in the past few years, discounters were strengthening their positions in sales in 2022. In packaging canned beer remained the most popular, especially the 0.5-litre size.

Canned beer remained the most popular, especially the 0.5-litre size

György Spiegel
marketing director
Borsodi Sörgyár

György Spiegel, marketing director of Borsodi Brewery Kft.:

“Economic instability and the difficult situation of the HoReCa sector had an influence on the business results of Borsodi too, so our sales performance stayed below the pre-pandemic level.”

In 2022 Borsodi updated the recipe of the lager beer Borsodi Világos, and they rolled out several new products, e.g. Borsodi Tropical Ale.

Ibolya Szabó
corporate affairs director
Dreher Breweries

Ibolya Szabó, corporate affairs director of Dreher Breweries:

“The challenges brought about by 2022 affected the whole sector, together with related industries such as hospitality and tourism. Luckily there is good news too. After a two-year hiatus, there were big summer festivals again, and together with the football World Cup, these had a positive impact on beer sales.”

One of the biggest success stories for Borsodi Brewery Kft. last year was updating the recipe of Borsodi lager. The product no longer contains corn grits, it is brewed exclusively from barley malt. Beer lovers welcomed the change and the brewery hopes that they won new buyers with this move. Modern recipe, but the same old taste and colour – this is what Borsodi lager offers today.

Dreher Breweries continues the technological modernisation of production in 2023. In product innovation, last March the brewery rolled out Dreher Bitter, a lager with IBU 50 bitterness, and the alcohol-free Peroni Nastro Azzurro. May brought the debut of a new product from ANTL, the experimental brand of Dreher Breweries: ANTL New England IPA. Since December 2022 ANTL Key West APA with 5.2% alcohol content has also been available.

Will HoReCa get back on its feet this year?

Vivien Reinhardt
head of portfolio
HEINEKEN Hungária
Breweries

Vivien Reinhardt, head of portfolio and CMI at HEINEKEN Hungária Breweries Zrt.:

“We look at 2023 as a year when it is going to be difficult to predict things. It is hard to tell how shoppers will react to the elevating prices, so we will keep monitoring consumers and the market.”

Plus this is also the year when the beer industry has to prepare for the deposit return scheme, which will debut in 2024. For HEINEKEN Hungária Breweries the biggest product launch was Heineken Silver in 2022. By introducing this product, the brewery established the new category of sessionable lagers (easy to drink lagers with low alcohol content). Heineken Silver’s launch was also special because it took place in virtual reality. Feedback is that generation Z and women especially love the new product.

The segments of alcohol-free and flavoured beers are more and more diverse, as manufacturers try to provide consumers with the possible best taste and refreshment

Self-rewarding by drinking premium beer

Péter Starcsevics
commercial director
Stari-Ker

Premium beers continue increasing their market share

//