Greece: Beer production increases significantly in 2022
Beer production in Greece increased significantly in 2022, with exports taking an increasingly important role, especially for the two biggest breweries, both foreign-owned, eKathimerini.com reported on August 5.
According to data published on August 4 – which happened to be World Beer Day – by EU statistics agency Eurostat, Greek beer production in 2022 reached 565.34 million liters, a 41.26% increase from 2021 (400.22 million). This puts Greece in eighth place among 18 EU member-states for which data are available.
The rise reflects not only increased domestic consumption because of tourism, but also higher exports: In 2019, the last pre-pandemic year and so far a record one for visitors, production was 397.69 million liters.
Although there are currently 71 active breweries, with the ranks of microbrewers swelling, the two dominant players, and export-driven leaders, are Athenian Brewery, owned by Dutch group Heineken, and Olympic Brewery, owned by Danish multinational brewer Carlsberg.
Among Greek-owned brewers, Macedonian Thrace Brewery, which produces the Vergina brand, and the Hellenic Brewery of Atalanti (EZA) have significant market shares, while the microbreweries, scattered across almost all the country, are gaining customers, both through retail and in restaurants.
Until early 2023, Carlsberg produced its beer at Olympic Brewery’s installations near Thessaloniki only in the form of a 330 ml glass bottle. It has now added production lines for cans and barrels, the latter in several sizes. Until this year, Carlsberg cans were imported to Greece from Serbia. Much of the production goes to markets where Carlsberg does not have production facilities, such as the Middle East, Africa and South America.
Athenian Brewery also increased its exports in 2022, adding two new markets, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
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