Image: Colourbox
Beer output last year was 9.98 million hectoliters, three percent less than in 2022. “However, we had an exceptional year back then, especially because of one-off effects after Corona,” said association chairman Karl Schwarz at a press conference today, Monday .
However, the level before the pandemic has been reached – despite challenges in several areas, emphasized Schwarz. The cost burden on the approximately 350 local breweries with their 3,300 employees and 1.4 billion euros in sales is still high and cannot be passed on 1:1 to retailers and restaurants, said Florian Berger, managing director of the brewery association.
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Schwarz and Berger defended the fact that a pint of beer for five euros or more is more the rule than the exception in many inns these days. Wage agreements over the past two years totaling 15 percent would have an impact on the price of beer, plus the beer tax, which is twice as high as in Germany, for example, and further drives up the price.
In general, the situation in the catering industry is difficult because there is a wave of closures among pubs. In 2013 there were 7,287 inns, beer bars and pubs in Austria, last year there were 5,281. The number of restaurants rose from 5,695 to 7,648 in the same period. That should also be seen as a ray of hope, said Schwarz. “The upscale restaurants and the hotel industry have fewer problems. We must succeed in winning them over as beer ambassadors.” Three quarters of beer sales go to retailers and a quarter to restaurants. The ratio used to be two-thirds to one-third in favor of trade.
Smaller reusable glass bottle is coming
The industry also sees potential in the 0.33 liter reusable glass bottle, which will be available in grocery stores in the first quarter. It is visually based on the 0.5 liter reusable bottle and can help reduce CO2 emissions, said Berger. The deposit amount is 20 cents per bottle. In 2023, 245 million “small” bottles of beer were filled in Austria.
The situation is different with the tried and tested bottle size: This is nine cents gross, the value has been unchanged for more than 40 years, criticized Schwarz. There is discussion in the industry about an increase. Schwarz sees the introduction of the one-way deposit from 2025 as “an opportunity for adaptation”. Disposable containers such as cans should not displace reusable bottles due to the higher return deposit. Schwarz: “Nobody can want that in the sense of a circular economy.”
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