Canada: Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre about changes on international beer production scene
While Canada and the majority of other industrialized nations are declining in beer production, Asia is more than making up for that deficit with double digit growth that is propelling a steady rise in world beer production.
The trend has important implications for Canada, says Rob McCaig of the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre (CMBTC). McCaig delivered a presentation on August 30 on global trends in brewing and malting at the 2005 North American Barley Researchers Workshop (NABRW) in Red Deer, Alta.
“Beer production is a market that recognizes quality in barley, and Canada has a strong reputation for producing high quality malting barley,” he says. “The world malting barley trade has risen from just under 5,000 million tonnes in 2000, to over 5,600 MT today, and it’s expected to further increase to around 6,400 MT by 2011. There is solid potential in those growing numbers for Canada to improve its opportunity for generating higher returns for its barley crop”
McCaig, Managing Director and Director of Brewing at CMBTC, discusses several key trends in a new article on the Meristem Land and Science Web site, www.meristem.com. Land and Science is a service featuring information on the sustainability of agriculture, food production and the environment. It is presented by Meristem Information Resources Ltd., in co-operation with partners in agriculture, food, environment and life sciences.
Asia is the new global king of beer production, and China is leading the way, McCaig observes. The monolithic country produces 64 percent of the beer produced in Asia and has experienced double-digit growth in this production for the past five years. “There is a tremendous amount of change taking place in the brewing industry,” says McCaig. “Most of the industrialized nations, including Canada, have been declining in production, but the slack is being taken up by Asia and South America.”
Overall, world beer production is growing at a steady pace, he says, from 1.21 billion hectolitres in 1994 to 1.48 in 2003. Along with China, other notable countries for production growth include Vietnam, India, Mexico Columbia and Russia. Along with production growth, there is massive consolidation among brewers, says McCaig. Today the largest four brewers – Interbrew, SABMiller, Anheuser-Busch and Heinekin – produce approximately 30 percent of the world’s beer.
“The brewing world continues in a major consolidation phase, where bigger is better – it’s more economical and its essential to maintain strong global brands,” says McCaig. “In the future, we see the number of large brewers shrinking still further into a handful of supercompanies.”
Meristem Land and Science, anchored at www.meristem.com, features “Progress and perspective from the best minds in agriculture, food and the environment.” The current version also features an article on how oilseeds are finding a high-value fit in feeder cattle rations and an article on a Prairie meteorite search by the University of Calgary.
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