Bulgaria: Beer sales register 1.7% rise year-on-year

Beer sales in Bulgaria for January-September period amounted to 3,476 million hectoliters, which represents an increase of 1.7% year-on-year, according to the report of Union of Brewers in Bulgaria. The sales figures do not include the business of locally-owned beer makers like Ledenika and MM which are not UBB members.

The average beer consumption per capita in Bulgaria was of 61 liters in 2004, up from 56 liters in 2003 and 51 liters in 2002. In September, beer sales dropped to 365,163 hectoliters from 563,226 hectoliters in the previous month. Kamenitza AD, part of the world's biggest brewer by volume InBev, leads both September the year-to-date sales.

This brewery added last month 151,735 hectoliters to its year-to-date sales which now are at 1.219 mln hectoliters. Zagorka Heineken was on the second place in September with sales of 112,381 hectolitres. The beer maker has sold 1.114 mln hectoliters in the first 9 months of the year.

On the third place was Carlsberg Bulgaria, which rums beer factories in Shumen and Blagoevgrad, with sales of 61,610 hectoliters in September and 743,539 hectoliters for the first 8 months of 2005.

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