HOW THE BELGIAN BREWERS SURVIVE IN THE TERMS OF PANDEMIC

The cancellation of the autumn “Oktoberfest” due to the coronavirus put the largest brewing companies of the UK and Europe in a difficult situation. The sales of beer fell catastrophically due to the quarantine and all kinds of social isolation measures.

In many European cities, restaurants and pubs where people usually gathered in order to drink beer and chat are closed now. The sports events have also been canceled, which means that the brewers will not see the fans among their customers. Not to mention such a loss as the “Oktoberfest” festival - it was supposed to take place in the capital of Bavaria from September 19 to October 4.

The Belgian brewers’ activities were suspended in mid-March. Although the beer sales in supermarkets have even increased (by about 70%), this income item has never been the main one. Why produce something that is nowhere to store? After all, the export of brewing products from Belgium has been stopped in March as well.

According to the experts, the beer sales have decreased by 20% in March and by 80% in April.

Many brewers are faced with the prospect of dismissing all the employees and suspending the production. Small Belgian breweries, which previously were almost 90% dependent on the sales of products to bars and pubs, began to open e-commerce stores and deliver beer to their customers at home. As a result, many managed to establish demand similar to that before the crisis. An additional success factor was a fashion for the craft beer that swept Belgium, which is famous for its developed culture of drinking beer. Relatively expensive beer and the delivery payments do not prevent the small breweries from the successful competing with the large producers.

Some Belgians began to buy special vouchers in order to subsequently use them after the restrictive measures are lifted. One of these business schemes, Café Courage, was launched by the largest brewing company AB InBev from the Belgian city of Leuven.

On cafecourage.be website people can order and pay for the portions of beer, as well as make a donation for a cafe or restaurant that they want to support in the times of crisis.

At the same time, the manufacturer itself invests about a million euros to support the catering.

Almost a third of the factories of the Belgian Brewers Federation turned out to be closed, and many managed to dismiss almost all temporary workers. But the business is trying to survive. The local experts from Le Pelican (consulting for people, suffering from alcoholism) suggest that some people in isolation have reduced their alcohol consumption in order to start a healthier life.

Other people with alcohol addiction, on the contrary, began to drink more in the straitened circumstances. Despite this, many Belgians express emotional support and gratitude to the brewers who allow them to drink their favorite drinks without leaving homes.