Germany: Krombacher manages to increase beer sales for the first time in years

With the revival of gastronomy and major events, Germany’s Krombacher brewery has sold more beer for the first time in years, indonewyork.com reported on January 18.

Beer sales rose by 2.7 percent to a good 6 million hectolitres in 2022, the Krombacher brewery, based in Siegerland, announced on January 18. Draft beer played a major role in this, with sales volumes doubling compared to 2021. On the other hand, sales of bottled beer in the trade have declined slightly. However, the pre-Corona level of beer sales of 6.3 million hectolitres from 2019 has not yet been reached again.

According to the family business, Krombacher is still the most drunk beer brand in Germany. It has been number 1 in the ranking of the beverage market magazine "Inside" for years.

Other large breweries have also reported a significant increase in beer sales over the past few days. The brewing industry had suffered greatly from corona restrictions in the catering trade. This was particularly noticeable in draft beer sales, which had come to a standstill at times. In return, bottled beer was in somewhat greater demand at the start of the pandemic.

The non-alcoholic beverages segment around the bitter lemonade Schweppes again proved to be a strong growth engine for the Krombacher Group in 2022 with a sales increase of 9.5 percent to almost 1.6 million hectolitres. It had already cushioned the consequences of the Corona crisis on the group's beer business in previous years. The total sales of the Krombacher Group increased by 4 percent to a good 7.6 million hectoliters in 2022. A new high has thus been reached.

The family company had increased prices in April 2022 and in October announced a further increase in sales prices to beverage wholesalers for all products as of March 1, 2023, with reference to an explosion in costs, not just for energy. Other large brewers are also planning price increases or have already implemented price increases. The group traditionally does not provide any information on the amount of profit.

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