2024-04-07 16:39:00
The world’s major beer producers are hoping that warm weather and a series of big sporting events this summer will help them recover from a difficult 2023, reports Bloomberg.
Drinks served at the barFoto: Jeppe Gustafsson / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
Heineken NV, Carlsberg AS and Anheuser-Busch InBev NV are among the brewers that will benefit if the good weather coincides with the 2024 European Football Championship, which will be held in June and July, analysts cited by Bloomberg estimate, according to Agerpres.
In general, the European football championships contribute to the increase in beer sales in Europe, especially in large countries, such as Great Britain, France, Spain, Italy and Germany, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Duncan Fox. If these countries reach the final stages of this year’s tournament, as expected, brewers could benefit from an increase in sales volumes. The betting odds show that these countries are favourites, ahead of England. According to Statista, Germany, Great Britain and Spain are among the top 10 biggest beer consumers worldwide.
“If we have a ‘Goldilocks scenario’ (characterized by moderate economic growth and low inflation, no) of a nice summer, England playing Italy in the final, or England versus France, of course that would help the industry a lot “, says Barclays analyst Laurence Whyatt.
Brewers, including Carlsberg, are expecting better weather to boost sales this summer after last year’s rains caused people to avoid pubs and ultimately drink less beer. Heineken CEO Dolf van den Brink described last summer as a “tough” one, due to the heavy rains that fell in Europe in July and August and kept people indoors. Brewers could benefit from better weather in 2024, with the UK Met Office forecasting warmer weather than last year.
Conversely, for producers of cognac, vodka and aperitifs, the outlook does not look too good. European spirits makers have struggled to maintain pandemic performance in the US market, where government bailouts and stay-at-home restrictions have led to an explosion in consumer spending on cocktails, says Laurence Whyatt. In addition, European spirits producers are more exposed to the US market than European brewers.
“There was an expectation that people’s habits would be maintained, that if you learned to make cocktails at home you would continue to do so even after the end of the quarantine. But what the data from the last year shows is that all this growth during the pandemic has been lost,” says Laurence Whyatt.
However, cocktails are not completely out of the race. For example, British retail group J Sainsbury Plc says it expects rum and tequila-based drinks to grow in popularity, and also expects people to start consuming different types of Spritz cocktails beyond the classic version on base of Aperol. And while beer may perform well this summer, it is also far too vulnerable to inflation. Brewers have been forced to raise prices to keep revenues growing as consumers cut back on their consumption.
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