There is a small glimmer of hope in the world beer market: even though not as much beer was produced as before the Corona pandemic, global beer output rose by around 4 percent to 1.86 billion hectoliters in 2021. To put this incredible figure into perspective: If you bottle this amount in 0.5-liter bottles and line them up side by side, the amount will reach around the equator about 650 times. (Note: The author hopes that he has not slipped a comma in these large numbers).

Concentration has become more firmly established in the world beer market. More than 90 percent of global production is accounted for by the 40 largest brewery groups. The two largest groups, ABInbev and Heineken, alone have a market share of almost 50 percent.

And German breweries? Only seven are on the list compiled by the world’s leading hop specialist BarthHaas, but this includes the OeTTINGER Group of our BCI president in 25th place.

By Erich Dederichs