BEER CRISIS IN GREAT BRITAIN: IN 2008 SALES HAVE FALLEN BY 7.2% ACCORDING TO THE BEER & PUB ASSOCIATION

The British Beer & Pub Association recently launched an alarm: the data for the last quarter of 2008 has verified a true crisis. Beer sales have fallen in Great Britain by 7.2% over totals for the same period in 2007. And the decline is not only in pubs but also at supermarkets. The English treasury has even announced a hole of 1.2 billion pounds for the beer sector in respect to forecasts that had previously been made.

In the period between July and September 2008, 161 million less pints of beer have been sold, equal to a daily loss of about 1.8 million pints. The new data is a dramatic indicator of the credit crunch and the current global economic recession, with a strong weakening of trust in consumers that, consequentially, weakens sales. And this decrease is the sharpest decline registered in the past 10 years. According to the Barth Report, which monitors global beer consumption, this situation is part of a long-term trend that has already registered a constant decrease in beer consumption in Great Britain in recent years. In 2002, 102 liters per person per year were consumed in England, while in 2007 this amount fell to 91 liters per year.

“This fall” – commented Rob Hayward, Chief Executive of BBPA (British Beer & Pub Association) – “is a clear sign of a worsening of the economy and a weakening of family spending power. This trend has, in any case, been accentuated by the fiscal increase of beer. We are making efforts to respond to the economic challenges of today. But we need more flexibility. The government must lighten fiscal restrictions and taxes for our sector”.