Beer purchases in Italy set a new record last year, hitting the €1 billion sales mark for the first time.
In addition, beer consumption per head is now at 32 litres in Italy, the highest recorded to date.
These figures come from a market analysis by farmers association Coldiretti, which also revealed that beer exports surpassed €200 million for the first time, growing 11% year-on-year.
The growth has been driven by craft breweries, whose number has more than quadrupled in the last decade (+330%), rising from just over 200 to more than 860, for an annual production of 55 million litres.
This phenomenon was boosted by new legislation, which introduced a 40% reduction in excise duties for artisan brewers who produce up to 10,000 hl per year.
Year-Round Consumption
Elsewhere, the AssoBirra Monitor has highlighted the fact that Italian beer sales no longer depend on the summer period, but are also growing in the cold months of the year.
AssoBirra's quarterly report on the sales trends in Italy, compiled by the association of leading breweries, reveals a 6% growth of beer consumption in the last three months of 2018 compared to the previous year.
October recorded the highest growth in the quarter, up 9% on 2017 and reaching 935,212 hl of beer sold, followed by November (+4%) and December (+6%).
Several factors have contributed to the deseasonalisation of beer, including increased interest among Italians for a wider variety of beers, combined with a change in consumption patterns and increased knowledge about the brewing sector.
According to AssoBirra president Michele Cason, 43% of Italians today show a propensity to experiment with new, unknown beers.
Microbreweries On The Increase
In addition, the association of Italian micro-breweries (Unionbirrai), claims the number of the companies in the sector increased from 649 to 1,008 (+55%) in the period 2015-2017.
Unionbirrai's president, Vittorio Ferraris, said that, as a result of the new tax regime, the sector will save about €6 million in taxes per year, which can be reinvested in the optimisation of the sector and towards increasing production.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
