Italy: First-half beer sales up 10% in value and 11.5% in volume

Italian beer retail sales in the first six months of 2017 grew by 10% in value to �612 million and by 11.5% in volume, according to IRI data published in Il Sole 24 Ore.

These results confirm the positive trend from 2016, when beer sales grew by 1.8% in revenue and 1.6% in volume.

Heineken boosted its leadership position, increasing its market share by 0.8% to 36.2%. Second place Ab InBev stood at 14.8% (+0.4%), followed by Peroni with 15.5% (+0.1%), Carlsberg with 9.7%, Bavaria with 4.7%, Royal Unibrew with 3.9%, Forst with 3%, and private label beers with 2.7% (-0.7%).

According to the Althesys report for the Beer Observatory of the Birra Moretti Foundation, the largest beer producers generated a turnover of about �2 billion, which represents an increase of 21% over the last decade.

The biggest growth was recorded by the premium segment (+11%) and special beers (+14.6%), with a good performance by standard beers (+10%). However, low-cost beers recorded a negative performance (-6.2%).