Record increase of 18,4% in beer purchases in Italy as a result of the torrid heat waves caused by climate change. On the occasion of International Beer Day, Ismea data were released which refer to the first quarter of 2021. Data that bode well for the recovery of a sector which, between lockdown and the closure of restaurants, pizzerias, pubs and agritourisms, due to Covid, has suffered a 2020% drop in turnover in 35.
Per capita consumption in our country has reached 36,8 litres, but beer also represents a driving force for the economy by feeding one supply chain which, between direct and induced employees, offers work to over 140 thousand people. Also growing exports after the difficulties experienced last year due to the pandemic, with an increase of 4% in the first four months of 2021, according to an analysis by Coldiretti on Istat data on foreign trade.
Above all, the recovery is being pushed craft beer which has about 550.000.000 liters produced every year; of which about a third comes from farms that directly transform agricultural products to make beer. For a consumption - underlines Coldiretti commenting on the Ismea data - that has become increasingly refined and aware over the years with highly distinctive specialties and particular varieties: from hemp-flavored beer to the straw-yellow Apulian artichoke beer, from gluten-free beer to Carnaroli rice from Piedmontand the one with pumpkin, from the beer with Sicilian oranges to the one with bergamot peel, from the one with cherry to the one with strawberries, from the one with heather honey to the beer with plums and there is even the beer flavored with bread and buckwheat.
It is reality very often created by young people who are the most active in the sectorre with profound innovations ranging from zero-kilometer certification of origin to direct links with farms but also the production of highly distinctive specialties or innovative forms of distribution such as the "brewpubs" or the farmers' markets in Campagna Amica.
They are also being created new professional figures such as the “beer sommelier” who knows the historical fundamentals of the various styles of beers and is able to interpret, through appropriate observation and tasting techniques, the main characteristics of style, taste, composition, color, body, hints on the nose and palate and identify any defects, as well as suggesting the ideal combinations with first courses, meat or fish and also with desserts.
Just to support the tricolor production of beer Coldiretti has promoted the Birra Italia Consortiumna that guarantees the origin of raw materials, from hops to barley and craftsmanship, creating a more solid relationship between brewers and growers of barley, hops and other complementary raw materials. The Consortium represents 27% of the craft beer produced in Italy and over 51% of the Italian barley malt and over half of the land cultivated with hops. To guarantee the origin of the product, an "artisanal Italian agricultural supply chain" brand has also been created. It aims to guarantee and trace the prevalence of raw materials from the countryside of the Belpaese, paying attention to the ethical remuneration of the supply chain and all its players.
