Italy: Number of craft breweries triples in the last ten years

100% made in Italy beer is increasingly popular. In the last ten years, craft breweries have tripled and today there are 1,085. Of course, it is a handful that accounts for just over 3% of the national market, considering that the vast majority of beer brands in Italy are in the hands of large foreign groups: the Dutch Heineken, the Danish Carlsberg, the Belgian AB InBev, the Japanese Yet, it is a handful that is becoming more and more interesting and that, along the entire supply chain, employs 93 thousand people, many of whom are young, breakinglatest.news reported on November 7.

The data comes from Coldiretti, which together with the Consortium for the protection and promotion of Italian craft beer has established the first national day of 100% made in Italy beer.

According to Istat data for the first seven months of 2022, craft beer exports increased by 12%. This growth has also increased the demand for 100% Italian raw materials: in a few years the national production of hops has gone from zero to one million square meters cultivated, while that of barley malt has reached 300 million ha, equal to 83 thousand tonnes, which however cover only 40% of the national needs. This year the national consumption of beer is destined to exceed the historical record of over 35 litres per capita for a total, for a total turnover which, considering all the productions, is worth 9.5 billion euros.

The craftsmanship of Italian beers has several regional variations: from Ligurian smoked beer with chestnuts to Carnaroli rice from Piedmont, from beer with Sicilian oranges to that with heather honey. “The success of Italian beer demonstrates the innovative capacity of our entrepreneurs to invest and conquer new sectors by enhancing the quality and biodiversity of Made in Italy,” said the president of Coldiretti, Ettore Prandini.

Of course, like all sectors, this sector too has seen costs rise for a year now: the Consortium for the protection and promotion of Italian craft beer and Coldiretti estimate energy costs in a jump of 200% compared to two years ago, to which must be added + 45% of packaging, + 40% of bottles, + 10% of cans and + 22% of caps, while climate change in 2022 cut the barley harvest by a third for the malt. In addition to the production difficulties, there is also the lack on the market of CO2 with a very high degree of purity used for bottling.

In this scenario, argues Coldiretti, it is necessary to support small Italian craft beer producers with the stabilization of the cut in excise duties and with the construction of a 100% made in Italy supply chain for hops, barley and malt with investments in research, machinery and cultivated varieties, creating a stronger relationship between brewers and raw material growers.

“The hops supply chain that leads to the production of craft beer is an Italian excellence and represents a wealth that must be protected,” answered the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Francesco Lollobrigida. “In the meantime, our commitment will be to homogenize Italian taxation to the European one on the matter of excise duties and to support the promotion of craft brands by creating supply chains that can also allow entrepreneurs who produce beer to sell it in a simple way and also in the areas where it is produced.”

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