2024-01-12 14:02:00
There were still 417 of them at the end of 2023, or thirteen fewer than at the end of 2022, according to the count carried out by the association of beer lovers Zythos.
The number of breweries fell in Belgium last year compared to 2022. With 417 establishments in 2023, we remain far above the 130 breweries recorded around fifteen years ago, but this decline illustrates the difficulties encountered by the sector, mainly small structures.
Breweries face a range of challenges. “The pandemic and conflict in Ukraine are having a persistent impact on the prices of energy, raw materials and packaging. Furthermore, in a context where purchasing power is under pressure, our brewers are struggling to maintain their sales volumes and margins”declared the federation of Belgian Brewers a few months ago.
Its director, Krishan Maudgal, also recognizes that the market is “maybe a little saturated” in Belgium, but he puts this drop in the number of breweries into perspective. “In volume terms, this does not even correspond to 0.01% of the total”he told the Belga agency on Friday.
If some small brewers emerged in full confinement, some are looking gloomy today due to production costs which have greatly increased. For Mr. Maudgal, the reality of the profession may have prevailed for these small players, probably driven in their beginnings by a somewhat romantic image of the brewing activity. “It’s no longer enough to make beer for your friends. The brewer must sometimes also be an accountant, sales manager, active in logistics… Making quality, stable and long-lasting beer is a real job.”
Belgian
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