Poland's three top brewing groups -- Zywiec, unlisted Kompania Piwowarska and Carlsberg Okocim -- expect stronger sales in 2003 thanks to a gradual economic revival and hefty investment in production, according to a Reuters report.

Poland's large beer market was among the most rapidly growing sectors in the region in the early 1990s, rising by 10 percent a year as the nation's drinking habits changed and its purchasing power grew after the 1989 fall of communism.
Beer sales bounced back in 2002 to reach a record 26 million hectolitres, up eight percent from 2001, partly boosted by exceptionally hot weather, according to figures released by the Association of Beer Industry Employers.

"We are optimistic about this year, but it will all depend on many factors, including economic growth," Nico Nusmeier, head of Heineken-owned Zywiec told reporters after a meeting of the lobbying group on Tuesday. Zywiec, which leads with a 32.3 percent share in the local market, sees its sales increasing three to five percent this year in volume terms. Last year the company sold 8.4 million hectolitres, up 750,000 hectolitres from a year before. Nusmeier said the producer would keep its annual investment expenditure at around 300 million zlotys ($79 million), but had no immediate acquisition plans in the local market. Its smaller peer Okocim, controlled by Denmark's Carlsberg , is even more upbeat on its 2003 sales, forecasting 10 percent growth from 3.6 million hectolitres last year.

Thanks to its recent purchases of small regional producers, Okocim, which is Poland's third-largest beer group, managed to double its market share to nearly 14 percent. "It should be a good year because after our integration we will now be able to focus on sales and marketing. We are much better prepared for this," Okocim head Marcin Pirog said.

Second-largest beer maker Kompania Piwowarska, which is controlled by SABMiller , has 32 percent of the market with 8.34 million hectolitres of beer sold last year. "By the end of 2005 we are planning to increase the share to 35 percent by further investments in our brewers in (western) Poznan and (southern) Tychy," its chief Pawel Sudol said. "Right now our production capacity is at around nine million hectolitres and we are able to raise it by 10 percent."

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