Italian craft beer marks a record: in the last 10 years the production tripled exceeding the quota of 1085 companies in 2022 that make exports soar with a leap of +12%. Numbers never seen before, but the explosion in raw material costs (+200%) and the lack of carbon dioxide are worrying operators in the sector. This is what emerges from the analysis of the Coldiretti and the Consortium for the protection and promotion of Italian craft beer on the basis of Istat data.
This is a growth that has increased the demand for raw materials 100% Made in Italy with hops that from scratch has now reached one million square meters cultivated along the peninsula. Added to this are the 300 million earmarked for barley for the production of malt, equal to almost 40% of the national requirement with around 83 tons.
"The success of Italian beer demonstrates the innovative capacity of our entrepreneurs to invest and conquer new sectors by enhancing the quality and biodiversity of Made in Italy", underlined the president of Coldiretti Ettore Prandini adding that "the success of Made in Italy beer is driven by craft beer made with particular ingredients or made without pasteurization and microfiltration to enhance the naturalness of a product increasingly oriented towards high-quality consumption with almost a fifth of the market made from special beers with high added value”.
Italian craft beer: young producers are depopulated
The choice of beer as a favorite drink has become increasingly refined over the years, also on the basis of particular varieties: such as smoked beer, flavored ones (with bread and buckwheat up to hemp), those with honey, pumpkin, artichoke and so on and so forth. Then there are the acidic ones and those aged in barriques for months. Not to forget an entirely Italian invention: IGA (Italian Grape Ale), or beer that contains a percentage of grape must.
These are productions very often made by young with profound innovations such as the zero kilometer certification of origin, the direct link with farms, the production of highly distinctive specialties or innovative forms of distribution such as "brewpubs" or the opening of stalls at agricultural markets. They are also being created new professional figures such as the "professional beer taster" who knows the historical fundamentals of the various beer styles.
Italian craft beer: record consumption
This year, national consumption of beer is set to exceed the historic record of over 35 liters per capita for a total of 2 billion litres, generating a turnover volume which, considering all productions, holds 9,5 billion euros. According to the Consortium of Italian beer, national productions hold the table.
Average spending is growing, but new legislation is needed
The craft beer sector has seen the number of producers double in the last 7 years and the average monthly expense of Italians for craft beers increased by 23%, with an increase in volumes consumed between 2017 and 2021 of 127%. Numbers never so high, yet the regulatory system is old and incomplete, now obsolete.
Hence the request to the new Government of the general secretary of Unionbirrai, Simone Monetti, during a conference at Simei – the trade fair of Unione Italiana Vini. “The time has come to regulate the Italian legislation on brewing with a Consolidated Law on Beer, just as it was done for wine”. “Besides inhibiting innovation – remarked Monetti – this represents an obstacle to the commercialization of beers produced in Italy, favoring the entry of more innovative proposals from foreign markets”.
Italian craft beer: a sector of over 1300 companies and almost 10 employees
According to the focus on craft beers carried out by the Craft Beer Observatory edited by ObiArt-Dagri of the University of Florence, the sector has 1.326 companies and just over 9.600 direct employees (data updated to October 2022), for a sector segmented between small and micro-breweries (representing 8 out of 10 companies despite employing only 19% of workers) and medium/large companies.
The health emergency of 2020 also affected this sector, resulting in a reduction in the number of employees in the sector, but associated with large industry. While farm breweries now account for 22% of national breweries, up 233% in the last 7 years.
