Bubbling to the top
The year 2005 was a memorable one for the beer industry. "For the first time in history the industry sold more than 30 million hectoliters of beer," president of Kompania Piwowarska (KP), Paweł Sudoł, said. The 30.9 million hectoliters sold was a 5.1-percent increase in comparison to 2004, while over the past 10 years sales have doubled. Polish consumers spent zł.14.5 billion on beer last year and the industry input from taxes to the state budget amounted to zł.6 billion.
"We believe we will continue to grow in 2006, but it will be at a slower rate, between two to three percent," Sudoł predicts. He explained that consumer preferences in Poland have completely changed in the last 15 years and now beer makes up half of all alcohol consumed in the country, while around 10 years ago it was a mere 30 percent. "An average Pole now drinks 80 liters of beer annually. This is close to the European average," KP's president states.
"This means that it will be harder to continue growing at the same pace," Sudoł concludes.
Although exports of Polish beer grew by almost 50 percent, from 610,000 hectoliters to 896,000 hectoliters, it still makes up only three percent of sales. Only Browar Belgia's revenue from exports is significant, making up 10 percent of total sales revenue. Other companies export their products to countries with large Polish communities. "The US - almost exclusively Chicago and New York - and the UK are the main importers of our beer," the president of Carslberg Polska, Marcin Piróg said.
KP remains the market leader with a 37-percent market share by volume. The company sold 11.2 million hectoliters of beer - a 12.6-percent increase in comparison to 2004's result. Grupa Żywiec is the second-biggest player on the market, however, the company didn't disclose its results. Carslberg Polska - in third place in terms of volume - is coming off the best year in its history, as its sales grew by seven percent to reach 4.3 million hectoliters. "In 2006 we plan to grow by a further eight percent," Piróg said. He added that the company, which currently claims a 14-percent market share, wants to reach a 20-percent share by 2011. The fourth-biggest player in the market, Browar Belgia, maintained the same level of sales as in 2004, at just over one million hectoliters.
