The recent increase in Austria’s deposit for reusable beer bottles from nine to 20 cents, effective February 2, 2025, has triggered a new wave of "Pfand tourism" along the German-Austrian border. Consumers from Germany, where the deposit remains at eight cents per bottle, are capitalizing on the Austrian refund system, creating significant challenges for breweries and retailers near the border.
Gerhard Altendorfer, CEO of Brauerei Baumgartner, acknowledges the issue, stating, "The different deposit rates in Austria and Germany are not ideal for us." He urges customers to act honestly and hopes to prevent widespread misuse. However, if the trend continues, the brewery has plans to take action against deposit fraud.
The impact is particularly severe for breweries operating on both sides of the border. When German consumers buy a crate of beer in Bavaria for 3.10 EUR (3.34 USD) in deposit and return it in Austria for seven EUR (7.53 USD), the brewery effectively loses 3.90 EUR (4.21 USD) per crate. Reports from BR24 highlight extreme cases, such as a customer attempting to return 50 crates at a small Austrian beverage store, which ultimately refused the transaction.
Christian Thiel, from the Schönramer Brewery in Petting, only 13 kilometers from the border, described the situation as "catastrophic" in the early days of the new deposit system. He emphasized that some individuals are clearly trying to exploit the discrepancy at the expense of breweries and retailers.
The Austrian Brewers' Association has acknowledged the issue but reassures that retailers are entitled to reject returns exceeding normal household quantities or products not sold in their stores. Despite reports of increased activity at border-area retailers, Austrian supermarket chains like Spar and Rewe claim that they have yet to see a significant surge in deposit tourism.
Austrian breweries used the opportunity of the newly introduced 25-cent deposit on plastic bottles and cans at the beginning of 2025 to also raise the deposit on beer bottles. According to Florian Berger, spokesperson for the Austrian Brewers' Association, the primary motivation was to increase return rates. Each year, around six percent of reusable beer bottles end up in waste, landfill, or nature instead of being reused. The new 20-cent deposit now aligns with the replacement cost of a bottle, and given that a single bottle can be refilled up to 40 times, the industry sees this as an essential step.
The Austrian move has reignited discussions in Germany, where the deposit rate has remained unchanged for decades at eight cents—derived from the former 15-pfennig rate converted into euros. Despite rising costs for bottles and crates, breweries have been hesitant to push for an increase, fearing it might be perceived as a price hike. Additionally, a deposit increase would immediately raise the value of the approximately four billion beer bottles in circulation, potentially creating cash flow disruptions and temporary shortages if customers delay returns to benefit from a future higher deposit.
Nonetheless, Thiel argues, "We small and medium-sized breweries in Germany also need a deposit increase." However, the Deutscher Brauerbund currently sees little chance of political momentum to implement such a change.
