After two years of restrictions and isolation, Italians want light-heartedness, light-heartedness and happiness. And which drink best accompanies these moments? There beer, the favorite alcoholic drink of Italians, even more than wine and cocktails. Be it clear (56,2%) or crafts (45,3%), beer is now a must, while wine (white and red) finishes in third place (43,8%), cocktail e Spirits in fourth place (42,7%), lo sparkling wine to the fifth (19,8%) while low-alcohol beers e non-alcoholic they carve out more and more space (10,4%).
This is what emerged from the study Piepoli/Beer Observatory, In collaboration with Departure, together with the fact that the locals, in order to react to the losses suffered during the closures imposed by the pandemic, have had to review their business strategies, opening up to new sales channels (such as takeaway and delivery), and which, above all, favor more flexible hours to offer consumers an offer based on the Spanish model: the tapeo which provides for the tasting of food and drinks throughout the afternoon.
Beer at the heart of the recovery: on the Spanish model
A trend also confirmed by the 200 interviewees (managers, owners of restaurants, pizzerias, bars, pubs, hotels and clubs in the country): not only will beer remain the constant for eating out, but recovery of the Italian premises revolves around the drink obtained from the fermentation of barley malt.
The fact is that if today for 64,5% of the premises the beer represents more than 25% of its business, in the 5-year forecasts the share of those who will depend for half of the collections on beer it will go from the current 16,7% to the expected 30,2%, above all for three reasons: it is increasingly in demand; it has little or no alcohol and, finally, it allows a good margin in terms of price, a vital element in a period of great economic difficulties for a sector that has just returned from two critical years.
But not only from merchants, the confirmation of the new trend also comes from consumers, according to whom 1 out of 2 hypothesizes an increase in consumption opportunities especially with the easing of restrictions due to the pandemic. But in addition to quality, greater attention will be paid to the price factor.
Beer observatory: the impact of Covid on the sector
The study shows how much the pandemic has left its mark. Over the past 2 years, half of the establishments (53,1%) had a drop in turnover and 1 in 5 (22,9%) were forced to make staff redundancies. After the most acute phase of Covid, 60,4% of establishments have profoundly changed their business, reviewing prices and offers (34,4%), opening up to delivered e takeaway (21,9%), imagining menus with fewer courses (19,8%) and expanding the opening hours, to intercept new consumption opportunities (16,1%).
Now, however, the beer market has reached important levels: and we are looking to the future with positivity: 58,3% of establishments, despite the difficulties, are making investments, on average within 20 thousand euros, to adapt to new trends .
The revenge of craft beer: in Italy it is worth over 250 million
After two difficult years due to restrictions, raw material procurement and staff shortages, the homemade beers suffered a significant drop in turnover, over 70% according to the latest Assobirra report.
Now the crisis seems to have passed, with the sector clearly recovering.
Craft beer is increasingly chosen by families and young people, especially among Millennial. In Italy it is worth 4% of the national market, with an average production of 500.000 hectoliters per year and a turnover of over 250 million euros.
On the European market, however, it is expected that the craft beer will increase by 666,34 million liters by 2025 (+6,20%). According to theAssobirra Annual Report 2020, the Italian one is among the best in terms of reputation in Europe: in third place after Poland and Romania. While the countries with a great brewing tradition remain the markets with the fastest market growth: Italy is in fourth place in Europe for the number of craft breweries, after the United Kingdom, Germany and France.
But globally, the craft beer segment represents a value of more than $38 billion. With expected growth of 14,1% per year through 2027.
