The reason is the collapse in demand due to the corona pandemic. The total output fell by 4.2 percent.
The closings in gastronomy and the decline in tourism have hit the Austrian breweries.
In Austria, too, breweries had to throw away beer due to the corona pandemic. But not to the same extent as in Great Britain, where around 50 million liters of beer were destroyed because of the closed pubs.
In Austria, the employees usually got the beer. “We don't want to throw away any beer, but we also want the beer tax that we have already paid back,” said Ottakringer boss Siegfried Menz on Thursday at a press conference of the brewery association.
The beer tax is a problem here, because if the breweries don't empty the yellow gold, they won't get the tax back, Menz explained. The brewery association generally calls for the beer tax to be halved to the level in Germany.
Winter season canceled
Especially in the winter sports resorts, a lot of beer was left over last winter because of the failed ski season. The barrels, which are usually stored in the mountain huts before the first snowfall, exceed the best-before date after about six months.
Even if 99 percent of the beer is still okay after the best-before date has expired, draft beer “will definitely have to be emptied one time or the other,” said Menz. Also “because it is difficult to move a 50 liter keg down to the afternoon snack at home in the family.”
Gastronomy and major events were missing
The breweries felt the corona crisis mainly through the closed gastronomy and the cancellations of concerts and other major events. On average, the brewers lost a fifth of their sales. However, individual breweries lost up to 70 percent of their sales.
Overall, around 840,000 hectoliters less draft and tank beer were sold in 2020 than in the previous year, which corresponds to around 170 million Krügerl and means a decrease of 46 percent. When it comes to beer prices in Austria's inns, 170 million fewer pints of beer are a loss of over half a billion euros.
Menz did not want to make a prognosis of how severe the host deaths will be after the pandemic. “We hope that everyone survives, even if that is not entirely realistic.” There will also be restaurateurs who have lost interest. The breweries are ready to help out the innkeepers, but what will be decisive is how the banks behave.
Around 100 liters per head
Per capita beer consumption is also likely to have decreased during the pandemic, but Menz estimates that it will still be around 100 liters per person per year. The business has shifted heavily to the grocery trade, where beer sales rose in 2020. Even in the crisis year, lager and Märzen beers were the most popular, with a market share of 68 percent.
The more than 300 breweries in Austria achieved a combined turnover of around 1.4 billion euros in 2020. The total output for domestic sales and exports fell by 4.2 percent to around 9.6 hectoliters of beer. The Heineken subsidiary Brau Union has the largest market share with its brands Gösser, Zipfer, Kaiser, Puntigamer, Schwechater, Wieselburger, Schladminger and Edelweiss.
