Beer market expands to large brewers delight, but small brewers feel the squeeze

The producers are very pleased with the result since after a very bad Q2 and a poor Q3 they feared that Q4 will also be disappointing. However, "In Q4 the sales were 3.41% higher than in the same period in 2003 and exceeded 5.8 million hectoliters," stated Dorota Gut, from the beer sector association Browary Polskie. "A return to growing consumption can clearly be seen. We estimate that the market will grow by 3.5% this year," added Nico Nusmeier, the head of Żywiec group. It was also a good year for exports as they almost doubled - in 2004 Polish breweries exported almost 350,000 hectoliters of beer in comparison with just 164,000 in 2003. Large breweries are happy with this year's results. Żywiec group sales in 2004 grew by around 10% in comparison with 2003. Kompania Piwowarska recorded a 9.1% growth of sales in 2004 and increased its share in the market to 36.4%. Carlsberg Polska sold 4.1 million hectoliters of beer in 2004, which is 8% more than in 2003 and increased its market share to 15%. However, small breweries are in crisis - in 2004 they recorded a double-digit decrease of sales. (Puls Biznesu, p. 8; Parkiet, p. 6) E.B.