Wave of closures

The death of pubs is also affecting breweries

More and more pubs are closing in the country.

(Bild: Holitzky Roland)

Every second day in 2023, a pub was told: "It's closing time" - for good. Especially pubs where guests drink a lot of beer have to close. This is also affecting breweries, which are under pressure due to inflation and sold less beer in 2023, albeit compared to an exceptional year in 2022, as the industry emphasizes.

"A decline of three percent compared to the previous year is a solid result. Because there were strong one-off effects in the previous year," emphasizes Karl Schwarz, Chairman of the Brewers' Association. Just under ten million hectoliters of beer were produced. Inflation is also putting pressure on the buying mood. Several breweries recently announced further price increases. Costs for raw materials, energy and personnel are currently high.

2000 fewer beer bars than ten years ago
The volume of draught beer fell by two percent. "The structural change in the hospitality industry is causing concern and headaches for our sector," regrets the brewery chairman. There are now 2,000 fewer beer bars and pubs than ten years ago, around a third fewer. In the countryside in particular, pubs are dying out. Traditional "country inns" cannot cope with the mix of rising costs, hardly any staff and declining sales. Although more than 100 new pubs were opened in 2023, these were in other catering sectors with correspondingly lower beer consumption.

Sales declined in the restaurant sector

(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

This is because system restaurants, for example, are popular. However, hardly any beer is served there. Upscale gastronomy is also bucking the trend and is still doing relatively well. Here, however, people often drink less beer and more wine. But thanks to new varieties, breweries want to gain an even greater foothold here and not just serve a "Pfiff" as an aperitif.

The year 2023 was also satisfactory in the tourist regions. "There were very strong fluctuations in sales over the year," says Schwarz. After an exceptionally good first quarter, consumption slumped by nine percent in spring compared to the previous year and only recovered halfway in the second half of the year, as the thirst for beer was again very high in the summer months.

The classic country pub is caught in a vicious circle of rising prices and costs, combined with declining sales, staff shortages, rural exodus and excessive bureaucracy.

Brauereien-Obmann Karl Schwarz

Bild: Brauereiverband/Kurt Keinrath

Alcohol-free beer is a "future market". Austria currently still has a share of around three percent, but the goal is five percent, which should be around the European average. Many breweries are currently retooling their production, and technology is making it easier and easier to brew alcohol-free beer.

With or without alcohol: Due to the reusable quota introduced this year, a new glass bottle for 0.33 l containers was introduced this year. It is very light and based on the 0.5l bottle. From next year, retailers and the industry will also have to pay a deposit on cans.

Whether customers in supermarkets will opt for more glass instead of aluminum as a result is a "question of price" and is not yet foreseeable, says Schwarz: "In Germany, we observed that can sales fell sharply after the introduction, but then recovered to the previous level."

Breweries want a higher bottle deposit
The deposit in Austria will then be 25 cents. It is currently 9 cents for bottles. However, the industry is appealing to politicians to increase this deposit. Because it has not been touched for decades. Even when the euro was changed over, the price was simply converted from the schilling price at the time and still applies today. An increase in the direction of 25 cents would be desirable. After all, too many glass bottles currently end up in the bin.

Schwarz would like to see a reduction in beer tax to curb the price increase. At 24 euros per hectoliter, this is too high by international standards, while in Germany it is only around half that amount. "That also drives up the price of beer," says the chairman.