Slow growth in beer sales blamed on economic slowdown and excise tax

Poland's breweries sold 24.1 million hectoliters of beer last year, just 0.3% more than in 2000, by far the slowest growth since the mid-1990s. In the record years 1997 and 1999, sales increased year-on-year by 12.4% and 11.3% respectively. The poor results come as no surprise. Both the breweries themselves and analysts have been warning that the economic slowdown coupled with a big excise tax hike would stifle sales. The market is dominated by the Big Three - Zywiec, Kompania Piwowarska (KP) and Carlsberg-Okocim, which together have a 78% market share. KP continued last year to catch up rapidly with Zywiec, and its market share, at 31.4%, was only 0.4 points lower than that of the leader. Carlsberg-Okocim also managed a big increase in market share, but this was primarily due to the completion of three takeovers. Analysts with Investment bank Schroder Salomon Smith Barney expect the stagnation in the sector to continue this year. (Gazeta Wyborcza, Jan. 19-20, p. 29) T.J.