The sales rose 6% in volume, while consumption rose only 2%. Romanian consumers drank 15.8 million hectoliters of beer in 2016 or 80 liters per capita.
“Consumption is unlikely to increase that much in the coming years, because it is already high. We are among the top ten countries by consumption in Europe. Consumption is already high in Romania and the population is dwindling, while the birth rate is going down, too,” said Mihai Barsan, marketing vice-president of Ursus Breweries, a company with EUR364 million sales last year.
If the growth in the first half remains unchanged until the end of the year, the brewer should end 2017 with about EUR400 million sales, according to ZF calculations.
Consumers are starting to spend on more expensive products instead of PET-bottled beer, whose consumption is down, Mihai Barsan said.
“The PET-bottled beer is seeing decline, especially the beer in bigger containers. The 2.5-liter PET-bottled beer sales are dwindling, while sales of beer in one liter or smaller bottles are on the rise.”
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)