Polish beer a new export hit in Europe - GUS

Products originating from Polish breweries have dethroned vodka, which had been Poland's biggest export, the daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reported. Last year, €170.6 million worth of beer was exported from Polish breweries. This is 19.8 percent more than in the preceding year, according to data from the Central Statistical Office (GUS). Eight percent of the country's annual beer product went abroad, compared to only two percent in 2004, the year that Poland joined the European Union. Poles abroad are a significant factor in this rise in Polish beer exports. “Favorite drinks follow our compatriots who leave the country in search of work,” explained Danuta Gut, director of the Union of Polish Brewing Industry Employers. She added that the older Polish emigre community, mainly in the US and Canada, has also contributed to the growth of beer exports. But Poland's golden beverage is consumed abroad not only by Poles, but by foreigners as well, even in countries with long brewing traditions. The biggest consumers of Polish beer are the Dutch, followed by the Germans and the British.