Last year, the segment of non-alcoholic beer in Poland recorded an 80% increase in sales – this was the highest growth rate throughout the European market. This year, the sector expects a similar, maybe even three-digit growth. Low-alcohol and non-alcoholic beer is the most prospective segment of the beer market today. It is growing at the expense of strong, high-alcohol beer the consumption of which is already oscillating around the marginal level. The Polish beer industry – the third-largest producer in the European Union – has to respond quickly to the radical change in consumer preferences. On the other hand, it is experiencing strong cost pressure, caused, among other things, by increases in raw material prices and labour costs as well as the announced excise tax rise.
“The Polish beer industry is in good shape, this sector has grown a lot over the recent years, it has undergone development. We estimate its total contribution to the Polish GDP at more than PLN 20 billion; it is an important employer. Moreover, this sector is a leader of fast-moving goods on the food market, generating high turnover, especially in smaller stores” Bartłomiej Morzycki, General Director of the Union of Beer Industry Employers (ZPPP) stresses in an interview with the Newseria Biznes news agency.
Poland is the third-largest beer producer in Europe – on average, every tenth beer available on the European market was brewed in Poland. The sector generates more than 157,000 jobs, pays PLN 11 billion in taxes annually, and also purchases more than PLN 6.5 billion worth of products and services from its subcontractors each year. As stressed by the Director of the ZPPP, the beer industry has an extensive chain of values and constitutes an important sector of the Polish economy.
Andrzej Olkowski, the President of the Association of Polish Regional Breweries, adds that this industry has undergone a revolution over the recent years, caused by changes in consumer preferences. The developing segments include those associated with the so-called beer revolution – i.e. unpasteurized, strongly-hopped, flavoured beer, but also low-alcohol and non-alcoholic (so-called zero) beer.
“Customers are looking for interesting beer – both on the Polish and European market. Interesting beer is a very broad concept and can accommodate many things. The last two years saw an explosion in sales of non-alcoholic beer with zero alcohol content, but there is also a rise in demand for strongly-hopped beer, fruit beer containing real fruit, a beer with an addition of tropical fruit, a beer with an addition of honey. In other words: beer other than pale lager,” Andrzej Olkowski says.
“Beer-making in general – in Poland and throughout Europe, especially in the “beer-oriented” countries – is undergoing dynamic changes. Beer as a product changes, but so does the consumer, expecting something completely different today. The consumption of strong, high-alcohol beer is steadily dropping in Poland – this is already a margin of the market. On the other hand, low-alcohol beer and shandy experience a gain. The fastest-growing part of the market, in turn, is the segment of totally alcohol-free beer,” Bartłomiej Morzycki adds.
He stresses that the segment of non-alcoholic beer in Poland recorded an 80% growth in sales last year and this was the highest growth rate on the entire European market. This year, the industry expects similar growth, maybe even reaching a three-digit value.
“At such a rate, every tenth beer in Poland would be non-alcoholic within 3 to 5 years. This is confirmed by a trend evidenced by consumer research. What consumers look for in beer today is primarily taste, rather than alcohol. In other words, they drink as much as before, while the proportion of alcohol consumption is changing, non-alcoholic beer comprises an increasingly higher percentage,” Bartłomiej Morzycki says.
Another distinct trend in the beer industry today is premiumization, meaning that the value of the market grows significantly faster than the changes in volume. Last year, the market recorded an increase of approx. 3-4%, whereas its value grew almost by 8%.
“This effect resulted from premiumization, i.e. a larger percentage of high-end beer. Beer consumers are increasingly willing to experiment, to search for beer novelties, beer specialties, and they are increasingly bold to reach for a new, high-end beer,” Bartłomiej Morzycki says.
The Director of the Union of Beer Industry Employers also stresses that beer is a product of traditional nature, with several centuries of tradition, and – in spite of various trends and changes in consumer preferences – beer, as a product in itself, will preserve its traditional character.
“One consumer trend is to return to old tastes, to search for old recipes. When we look, for instance, at the offer of microbreweries, their idea of business is often based on the application of decade – or century-old recipes and the revival of traditional brewing. I think beer will, in essence, preserve its traditional nature but will always be subject to certain consumer fashions. Currently, such trends include the will to be healthy and fit, to care for your figure, which explains the popularity of zero beer. It has fewer calories and can be consumed by physically active people. We, the breweries, attempt to follow such trends and influence them at the same time,” Bartłomiej Morzycki claims.
He stresses that the current challenges to the industry include growing costs, connected, among other things, with the increase in prices of energy, raw materials and labour. Due to all these factors, the price of beer is under strong cost pressure.
“The availability and price of raw materials, availability of water – these things are crucial for the industry’s future. When we look at the local Polish market, also including waste management, recycling, closed circulation, these are all issues that concern us, since we are an industry that places hundreds of millions or even billions of bottles and cans on the market. We are the only industry in Poland that organizes the returnable bottle market on such a scale. 50% of beer is sold in returnable bottles, this is the only such case on the Polish market,” stresses Bartłomiej Morzycki.
Furthermore, the beer industry is particularly sensitive to regulatory changes – particularly those related to excise and the area of health policy. Therefore, it is important that any new changes in regulations are foreseeable and should not interfere with the functioning of the market.
“We are afraid of the excise tax rise – but only if it is introduced unfairly or unevenly. If the excise tax rise reaches the level announced by the Ministry of Finance and affects all alcohol industries to the same extent, this will indeed be a cost driver, but a fairly allocated one. We would be more afraid in case of some changes in the excise tax calculation system, but I do not think this would ever take place,” says Andrzej Olkowski, the President of the Association of Polish Regional Breweries.
Zbigniew Sikorski, the Chairman of the Secretariat of Food Industry of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union “Solidarity” (NSZZ „Solidarność”), adds that the rise of excise tax – combined with the increase in raw material prices and growing cost pressure in the beer industry – may also affect the situation of employees working in this sector.
“The regulations related to the anticipated rise of excise tax pose a certain future threat to the employees. The industry is developing excellently, it is able to feel the needs of the customers on the market and to reorient its production accordingly. In my opinion, there are no real grounds to increase the excise tax; why do something new if the old thing works well?” Zbigniew Sikorski says.
Bartłomiej Morzycki,
General Director of the “Polish Breweries” Union of Beer Industry Employers (ZPPP Browary Polskie),
Andrzej Olkowski, President of the Association of Polish Regional Breweries,
Zbigniew Sikorski, Chairman of the Secretariat of Food Industry of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union “Solidarity” (NSZZ „Solidarność”)
Source: Newseria.pl
“The Polish beer industry is in good shape, this sector has grown a lot over the recent years, it has undergone development. We estimate its total contribution to the Polish GDP at more than PLN 20 billion; it is an important employer. Moreover, this sector is a leader of fast-moving goods on the food market, generating high turnover, especially in smaller stores” Bartłomiej Morzycki, General Director of the Union of Beer Industry Employers (ZPPP) stresses in an interview with the Newseria Biznes news agency.
Poland is the third-largest beer producer in Europe – on average, every tenth beer available on the European market was brewed in Poland. The sector generates more than 157,000 jobs, pays PLN 11 billion in taxes annually, and also purchases more than PLN 6.5 billion worth of products and services from its subcontractors each year. As stressed by the Director of the ZPPP, the beer industry has an extensive chain of values and constitutes an important sector of the Polish economy.
Andrzej Olkowski, the President of the Association of Polish Regional Breweries, adds that this industry has undergone a revolution over the recent years, caused by changes in consumer preferences. The developing segments include those associated with the so-called beer revolution – i.e. unpasteurized, strongly-hopped, flavoured beer, but also low-alcohol and non-alcoholic (so-called zero) beer.
“Customers are looking for interesting beer – both on the Polish and European market. Interesting beer is a very broad concept and can accommodate many things. The last two years saw an explosion in sales of non-alcoholic beer with zero alcohol content, but there is also a rise in demand for strongly-hopped beer, fruit beer containing real fruit, a beer with an addition of tropical fruit, a beer with an addition of honey. In other words: beer other than pale lager,” Andrzej Olkowski says.
“Beer-making in general – in Poland and throughout Europe, especially in the “beer-oriented” countries – is undergoing dynamic changes. Beer as a product changes, but so does the consumer, expecting something completely different today. The consumption of strong, high-alcohol beer is steadily dropping in Poland – this is already a margin of the market. On the other hand, low-alcohol beer and shandy experience a gain. The fastest-growing part of the market, in turn, is the segment of totally alcohol-free beer,” Bartłomiej Morzycki adds.
He stresses that the segment of non-alcoholic beer in Poland recorded an 80% growth in sales last year and this was the highest growth rate on the entire European market. This year, the industry expects similar growth, maybe even reaching a three-digit value.
“At such a rate, every tenth beer in Poland would be non-alcoholic within 3 to 5 years. This is confirmed by a trend evidenced by consumer research. What consumers look for in beer today is primarily taste, rather than alcohol. In other words, they drink as much as before, while the proportion of alcohol consumption is changing, non-alcoholic beer comprises an increasingly higher percentage,” Bartłomiej Morzycki says.
Another distinct trend in the beer industry today is premiumization, meaning that the value of the market grows significantly faster than the changes in volume. Last year, the market recorded an increase of approx. 3-4%, whereas its value grew almost by 8%.
“This effect resulted from premiumization, i.e. a larger percentage of high-end beer. Beer consumers are increasingly willing to experiment, to search for beer novelties, beer specialties, and they are increasingly bold to reach for a new, high-end beer,” Bartłomiej Morzycki says.
The Director of the Union of Beer Industry Employers also stresses that beer is a product of traditional nature, with several centuries of tradition, and – in spite of various trends and changes in consumer preferences – beer, as a product in itself, will preserve its traditional character.
“One consumer trend is to return to old tastes, to search for old recipes. When we look, for instance, at the offer of microbreweries, their idea of business is often based on the application of decade – or century-old recipes and the revival of traditional brewing. I think beer will, in essence, preserve its traditional nature but will always be subject to certain consumer fashions. Currently, such trends include the will to be healthy and fit, to care for your figure, which explains the popularity of zero beer. It has fewer calories and can be consumed by physically active people. We, the breweries, attempt to follow such trends and influence them at the same time,” Bartłomiej Morzycki claims.
He stresses that the current challenges to the industry include growing costs, connected, among other things, with the increase in prices of energy, raw materials and labour. Due to all these factors, the price of beer is under strong cost pressure.
“The availability and price of raw materials, availability of water – these things are crucial for the industry’s future. When we look at the local Polish market, also including waste management, recycling, closed circulation, these are all issues that concern us, since we are an industry that places hundreds of millions or even billions of bottles and cans on the market. We are the only industry in Poland that organizes the returnable bottle market on such a scale. 50% of beer is sold in returnable bottles, this is the only such case on the Polish market,” stresses Bartłomiej Morzycki.
Furthermore, the beer industry is particularly sensitive to regulatory changes – particularly those related to excise and the area of health policy. Therefore, it is important that any new changes in regulations are foreseeable and should not interfere with the functioning of the market.
“We are afraid of the excise tax rise – but only if it is introduced unfairly or unevenly. If the excise tax rise reaches the level announced by the Ministry of Finance and affects all alcohol industries to the same extent, this will indeed be a cost driver, but a fairly allocated one. We would be more afraid in case of some changes in the excise tax calculation system, but I do not think this would ever take place,” says Andrzej Olkowski, the President of the Association of Polish Regional Breweries.
Zbigniew Sikorski, the Chairman of the Secretariat of Food Industry of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union “Solidarity” (NSZZ „Solidarność”), adds that the rise of excise tax – combined with the increase in raw material prices and growing cost pressure in the beer industry – may also affect the situation of employees working in this sector.
“The regulations related to the anticipated rise of excise tax pose a certain future threat to the employees. The industry is developing excellently, it is able to feel the needs of the customers on the market and to reorient its production accordingly. In my opinion, there are no real grounds to increase the excise tax; why do something new if the old thing works well?” Zbigniew Sikorski says.
Bartłomiej Morzycki,
General Director of the “Polish Breweries” Union of Beer Industry Employers (ZPPP Browary Polskie),
Andrzej Olkowski, President of the Association of Polish Regional Breweries,
Zbigniew Sikorski, Chairman of the Secretariat of Food Industry of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union “Solidarity” (NSZZ „Solidarność”)
Source: Newseria.pl
