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The beer market remained stable in 2020, registering an increase of 0.5% in volume, to 16.75 million hectoliters, according to the annual report of the Romanian Brewers Association.
The share of the HORECA sector in beer sales has halved, from 15% in 2019 to 8% in 2020.
"2020 was a year with many challenges for society and for the beer market in Romania. The restrictions imposed due to the situation generated by the coronavirus strongly affected the hospitality sector and, implicitly, our industry. The losses caused by the closure of HORECA were partially offset by acquisitions from the retail trade, moving beer consumption at home, as well as the fact that it was a year with good weather. Moreover, we assume that the market was in line with the previous year level also due to the fact that many Romanians abroad, because of the restrictions in the states where they worked, returned home for a while, they stayed with their family and spent their holidays here," said Dragos Constantinescu, president of the Romanian Brewers Association, in a press release sent to AGERPRES on Tuesday.
Before the pandemic, the beer served in the hospitality sector generated 443 million euros in the Romanian economy, while last year it generated only a little more than half, respectively 241 million euros.
The representatives of the Romanian Brewers Association stress that the local beer market continues to maintain its deep national character, the share of local production accounting for 97% of domestic consumption. During 2020, imports increased by 0.15 million hectoliters, reaching a total of 0.65 million hectoliters.
Beer exports increased slightly in 2020, by 0.04 million hectoliters compared to the previous year, reaching a total of 0.53 million hectoliters.
