World: Asian brewing groups hardest hit by pandemic

Due to the pandemic in 2020, the 40 largest brewing groups in the world have sold combined about 94 million hectoliters less beer than in 2019, according to a list published by the Barth-Haas Group, the world's largest supplier of hop products and services. This corresponds to a loss of 6 per cent in one year.

Hardest hit were brewing groups from Asia (except China) which imposed strict restrictions or suffered most in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, like United Breweries from India (-34%); San Miguel Corporation from the Philippines (-24%); SABECO, Vietnam (-19%) HABECO, Vietnam (-19%); Beer Thai (Chang), Thailand (-16%) but also brewing groups with a high share of sales to the HoReCa sector like Diageo (Guinness), Ireland (-20%); and Warsteiner Group, Germany (-18%).

Largest brewing group is still AB InBev with sales of 467m hl (-6%), followed by Heineken with 222m hl (-8%), Carlsberg with 110m hl (-2%), China Res. Snow Breweries with 107m hl (-6%) and Molson Coors with 85m hl (-9%).

The comparatively lower volume loss of Carlsberg also helped the Danes to jump again on rank 3 of the list, thus overtaking China Res. Snow Breweries from China which fell to rank 4 last year. Yanying, another Chinese Brewing group, as well as SABECO and HABECO from Vietnam, Singha and Beer Thai from Thailand, United Breweries from India, Suntory from Japan, and the German brewing groups Krombacher, Bitburger, Paulaner and Warsteiner also ranked lower in 2020.

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