A sip of the beer market

dr. Sándor Kántor
president
Association of
Hungarian Brewers

Dr Sándor Kántor, president of the Association of Hungarian Brewers informed that the six member breweries produce approximately 6 million hectolitres of beer a year. Although sales of Hungarian-made beers were up 1 percent in 2018, this year brought a 3-percent sales drop. The volume of imported private label beers increased by about 20 percent this year. Demand increased for premium beers – the segment’s share in total sales reached one quarter in 2019. Per capita beer consumption is the lowest in the region. The biggest challenge for breweries is to improve the very low level of draught beer sales from the current 9 percent share – a preferential VAT rate would be helpful in this.

The president revealed that aluminium can represents 70 percent of total beer packaging, therefore the association runs its own beer can collection system – via Returpack they collect 17 percent of the cans put on the market, and with the help of selective waste collection and waste courts this proportion goes up to almost 40 percent. Another task for the beer industry is using less water in production. Cutting down on plastic use has already started too, replacing this packaging material with carton and aluminium. Breweries in Hungary have reacted rapidly to sustainability trends and have taken steps the efficiency of which can be measured.

Dr Kántor also talked about another challenge for breweries: Making alcohol-free beer that tastes just as good as the original product. Sales of alcohol-free beers are on the rise all over Europe, and this product’s market share is expected to reach the European level in Hungary too in the near future. //