“The brewers are going through an extremely volatile period. 2022 was a challenging year from the difficult economic context – with record inflation, significant increases in energy and fuel costs, raw materials and packaging – but also from the aftermath of the war in Ukraine. Despite all these limitations, the beer sector is important, both through its contributions to the economy and also to consumers. 2023 is particularly important for sustainability, with the Deposit-Return System (DRS) to be launched at the end of 2023 and setting the stage for a competitive circular economy,” said Dan Robinson, President of the Romanian Brewers Association.
2022 is the first year in which the number of brewers has decreased amid the economic crisis to 90 in 2022 compared to 93 in 2021.
Lager beer continued to dominate Romanians’ preferences in 2022, with a share of 93.4%, slightly down from the previous year. The non-alcoholic category, which includes non-alcoholic beer and non-alcoholic beer mixes, showed the most spectacular evolution, exceeding 5% market share.
The smallest segments – specialties, represented by dark, pasteurized, white, ale, red beers, etc. – account for 1% of the market, slightly up from the previous year, while beer mixes and alcohol-flavored beers make up 0.5% of the market.
“Non-alcoholic beer meets the needs of modern consumers, who are increasingly demanding — it keeps the refreshing effect and flavor of beer intact for those who don’t want or can’t consume alcohol. Thus, the non-alcoholic beers in the producers’ portfolios support the responsible consumption promoted by beer category,” said Julia Leferman, Director General of the Romanian Brewers Association.
the packaging structure of the beer market in 2022 has resumed pre-pandemic trends. The undisputed stars of 2022 were the bottle and keg, with shares up almost 3 percentage points on the previous year. Draft beer reached the share held before the sanitary crisis marked by extended periods of lockdown in the hospitality industry. In the case of canned beer, the trend in recent years has been steady, if not significant progress. PET is the only type of packaging that saw a decline in 2022, of almost 3 pp. Share by type of packaging – bottle: 33.3%, can: 24.8%, keg: 3.2%, PET: 38.7%.
Even in the face of a declining market volume, the beer sector continues to be an important contributor to the Romanian economy. The beer industry directly and indirectly provides more than 61,000 jobs throughout the country, covers around 97% of domestic beer consumption exclusively from local production, and 50% of the ingredients used in brewing come from Romanian agriculture. The beer sector contributes to Romania’s economic growth through its long-term commitment to invest locally and strengthen a responsible industry.
“After four years in which the beer market has remained stable, this is the first time we have seen a decrease in the annual volume of beer consumed in Romania. In addition to the already existing economic constraints, which have led to a cumulative increase of more than 60% in production costs for beer, there has also been high fiscal pressure on producers in our sector. This is why Romania’s Brewers are campaigning for fiscal stability and a constructive approach in the dialogue with the authorities, adapted to the current economic context and challenges”, added Julia Leferman, Director General of the Romanian Brewers Association.
The Association’s member brewers carried out investments of EUR78 million in 2022 and the combined investments of the members of the Romanian Brewers Association since its foundation have reached EUR1.88 billion.
The tax contributions of the members of the Romanian Brewers Association to the state budget increased in 2022 compared to the previous years, reaching EUR286 million. The combined contribution of the Association’s members over the last 19 years has exceeded EUR4.7 billion.
The domestic beer market continues to retain its deeply national character, with the share of local production remaining at 97% of domestic consumption. In 2022, imports increased slightly by 0.3 million hl to a total of 0.72 million hl and exports also increased slightly by 0.3 million hl compared to the previous year, reaching a total of 0.52 million hl.
The association includes brewers in Romania: Bergenbier SA, Heineken Romania, United Romanian Breweries Bereprod (URBB), Ursus Breweries and Martens, and the microbreweries Clinica de Bere and Scorilo. The seven brewers supply 85% of the amount of beer consumed in Romania. The association also includes representatives of raw material producers: Soufflet Malt Romania and the Association of Hop Producers in Romania.