Damage control

Dr. Sándor Kántor
director
Association of Hungarian Brewers

Since bars and restaurants were forced to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic, brewing companies suffered considerable sales loss. Many craft beer enterprises started a home delivery service, taking their best brews to beer lovers at prices never seen before! For craft beer makers the big question is whether they will be able to get their buyers back in the next few months or not.

Members of the Association of Hungarian Brewers – the biggest beer companies – are facing different problems than small craft breweries. Director Sándor Kántor told: horeca units buy 30 percent of the beer they brew, and the sales increase in retail couldn’t compensate for the closure of bars and restaurants. Sales in April were down 16.1 percent if compared with April 2019. Mr Kántor revealed that breweries are facing new challenges due to the pandemic: putting the horeca sector back on track is of utmost importance for the beer industry. //