This is the highest growth of beer sales considering each February of the last seven years and may be because of a lower comparison base (February 2012 was extremely slow), of the warmer weather and of soccer competitions. Another explanation may be the preparation of the brewers for the hot season by launching new products and putting them on the market, thus making sure February had all the necessary ingredients for consumption to soar by 26%.
The good performance of the beer industry can be seen in the results that Ursus Breweries announced. Its sales in April 2012-March 2013 (its fiscal year) returned to growth, going up 24% after three years of decline.
Ursus’ sales include the first three months of 2013 but the company did not provide any separate data for the quarter. Only Heineken published data about Romania in first first-quarter 2013 report, showing sales were flat on the same time of 2012.
Beer sales had a good start of the year across the entire market, rising by 25% on the corresponding period of 2012.
The latest official data released by the Brewers of Romania Association show 2012 beer consumption increased by 7%.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)