France: Beer market could shrink by up to 40% this year

Due to the coronavirus crisis France’s beer market could shrink by 30-40% this year, 7sur7 reported, citing the nation’s leading brewer Kronenbourg.

“There are many speculations but we believe the impact will be an about 30-40% decline this year,” Kronenbourg Commercial Vice-President Thierry Caloin says.

The main reason of the decline will be the closure of cafes and restaurants, he added.

According to the trade association Brasseurs de France, the HoReCa sector accounts for 35% of overall beer sales in France, and “for about 25-30% of Kronenbourg’s turnover”, according to Caloin. “Things don’t look very well,” says Brasseurs de France Executive Director Maxime Costilhes, however, not daring to disclose any exact figures at this point.

To support the struggling HoReCa sector, Kronenbourg, together with about sixty other companies, launched a month ago a platform entitled J'aimemonbistrot (“Ilovemypub”) which allows consumer to support financially their favorite pub or café by pre-ordering food and drinks.

“A little less than 7,000 establishments entered the initiative with about a third entitled to the donations”, said Caloin, “19,000 vouchers have already been purchased for a total of EUR1.2 mln.”

Kronenburg with its Obernai, Alsace brewery located in one of the regions with the higher number of confirmed coronavirus cases had to reduce the production volume and “hasn’t been recording a very high profit”, he added.

This statement, however, isn’t entirely supported by Brasseurs de France. “At the beginning of the lockdown, there were a couple of good weeks. The Easter week, though, wasn’t particularly good,” Costilhes said. He believes that the supermarket sales have now almost returned to the normal pattern.

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