Romania: Beer market up a mere 0.5% in 2020
Romania's beer market was flattish in terms of volume in 2020 with sales of 16.5 million hectolitres, up a mere 0.5% year-on-year, the Brewers of Romania Association said.
During 2020, only one in twelve beers was sold in entertainment, hospitality and restaurant (HoReCa) units due to restrictions on gathering at public places imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus infection, the association said in a statement on April 6.
Before the pandemic, one in five glasses or bottles of beer was sold in HoReCa units.
"Restrictions imposed due to the situation generated by the coronavirus have strongly affected the hospitality sector and, implicitly, our industry. Losses caused by the closure of HoReCa units were partially offset by retail purchases, as people started to consume beer home, and by the fact that 2020 was a year with good weather," Brewers of Romania president Dragos Constantinescu said.
"At the same time, we estimate that the market remained at the level of the previous year and due to the fact that many Romanians who were living abroad returned home for a while due to restrictions in the states where they worked, so they stayed with their families and spent their holidays here," Constantinescu added.
Investments made in 2020 by the members of the association - Bergenbier, Heineken Romania, Ursus Breweries, United Romanian Breweries Bereprod, Martens and Clinica de Bere - totalled 72.8 million euro ($85.6 million), lower than 96.3 million euro invested in 2019. The cumulative investment by the members of the association has reached 1.7 billion euro to date.
Local beer brands accounted for over 97% of domestic consumption, as half of the ingredients used in brewing beer come from Romanian producers, the association noted.
Lager continued to dominate Romanians’ preferences in 2020, with a share of 93.8%, while beer mixes and flavoured beers accounted for 3.2% of the market. The specialties category, which includes, amongst many others, dark, unpasteurized, light, ale and red, held a share of 1.6%. Non-alcoholic beer accounted for 1.4% of the sales volume.
On an annual comparison basis, beer imports edged up by 0.15 million hectolitres to 0.65 million hectolitres last year, equal to less than 3% of the market. Exports also slightly increased in 2020, by 0.04 million hectolitres to 0.53 million hectolitres.
The number of brewers in Romania increased to 86 last year, from 68 in 2019.
The association members employ some 6,000 people in eleven breweries, including two micro-breweries. The members of the association contributed a total of 289 million euro to the state budget in 2020. The cumulative contribution of the members of the Brewers of Romania Association to the state budget over the last seventeen years exceeds 4.17 billion euro.
뒤로
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 .
