Sporting events such as the ongoing Euro 2024, the upcoming Copa Americana and the Paris Olympics, combined with rising temperatures, are expected to boost demand for the drink.
In a report released last month, CGS analysts Lei Yang and Sun Feifei highlighted that sales of premium beer products in catering and entertainment channels are expected to beat expectations and boost the industry.
Chinese online database QiChaCha pointed to Euro 2024, noting that bars and shops are decked out in European Cup merchandise and offering sports-themed meals to capitalise on the craze.
“The beer market is showing a clear growth trend, with major beer brands racing to launch products and services that match scenario-based consumption,” said Chinese online database QiChaCha, which revealed that the number of beer-related companies in China increased by more than 7,000 last year.
“The European Cup will ignite the ‘beer economy’,” the company said, adding that China’s beer industry is seeing a clear trend towards premium products.
The trend toward premium beers is expected to boost breweries’ profit margins, in part because lower barley prices are helping to lower costs, Sun and Lay said.
The average price of imported barley fell 30% year-on-year to $273 a tonne in the first four months of the year, the report said, citing data from China’s customs authority and its own research. “We expect this trend to continue for the whole of 2020.” [2024],” they said.
It also expects China’s beer industry to continue to benefit from lower barley and packaging material prices, as well as product mix upgrading, in 2024.
China isn’t the only country seeing this recovery: Reuters reported in May that global brewers expect beer sales to rise this year after several quarters of declines.
The report added that Heineken, the world’s second-largest brewer, reported its first quarterly volume increase in more than a year in the first quarter of 2024. Rival Carlsberg also reported a volume increase in the same period after several quarters of volume declines.
Carlsberg CEO Jacob Arlup Andersen reportedly said events such as the Paris Olympics and Euro 2024 would boost the brewing industry.
“We expect positive volume growth going forward,” Arup Andersen said, adding that the brand would benefit particularly from increased sales in Asia.
