Bulgaria: Beer Sales in Restaurants and Bars Plummet by 60% in First Half of 2020
The pandemic year 2020 has posed a number of challenges to businesses and individuals, and it is no surprise that beer sales in Bulgaria's restaurants, bars and discos declined by 60 per cent in the first half of the year compared with the first half of 2019, while those registered by groceries have remained almost unchanged. The observation was made by Ivana Radomirova, Executive Director of the Union of Brewers in Bulgaria (UBB) on the National Brewers’s Day.
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, draught beer sales slumped considerably, accounting for only 2 per cent of the Bulgarian beer market in the first half of 2020, Radomirova said.
The market segment for glass-bottle beer also shrank, while the segment for plastic-bottle beer expanded.
Canned beer sales continued to rise. Despite the crisis and the considerable drop in sales, UBB member companies have not laid off any workers, Radomirova noted. The industry employs 2,100 people.
Over 150 brands and styles of beer are made in Bulgaria. Three large breweries and 28 small and mediumsized ones operate in the country. In 2019, beer sales amounted to 5.4 million hectolitres and product lists were expanded by 25 new brands and types.
A nationwide survey conducted in June showed that beer is the most consumed beverage after water during the summer.
Source: BTA Daily News