World: Craft, alcohol-free beer, Africa, whisky and food demand brighten up malt industry’s prospects

On the bright side of malt markets there is the unbelievable success of craft beer, where countries all over the world start to follow the American trend, H. M. Gauger GmbH analysts said in their latest report.

Malt input in craft beers is up to three times higher than in most macro beers. And old style industrial beers must follow the demand of better quality beers. In China, the average malt input in beer is estimated to have increased from 7.0 to 7.5 kg/hl.

A study of Kelch/Hohmann put the output of alcohol–free beer 2016 in Germany at 6.4 mln hl. This beer is a regular part of the production line, but not mentioned in beer statistics. Output of alcohol-free beer is large (and statistically unavailable??) in many countries, and expected to grow fast.

Beer output on the whole is improving constantly in Southeast and South Asia, and above all in Africa. A recent lecture (WBMBC in Vienna) predicted an increase of the African malt demand to 5 mln tonnes until 2025. Even if too optimistic, the figure underlines the good prospects for malt and malting barley needs in future years. Malt demand for whisky and food will also increase further with population growth and higher standards of living.

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .