Brewing Business

Where is the European brewing scene heading? A decade of radical changes like big mergers, multiplication of beer styles, increasing demand and the explosion of micro and small breweries has concluded with an unprecedented pandemic. Following its heavy impact on our sector, what will the next decade offer to our industry? Heineken CEO Dolf van den Brink delivers a keynote speech and our four panellists will debate what’s next. How is sustainability going to impact the brewing sector? Will the sector continue to grow, and the number of breweries continue to expand, thanks to new breweries opening doors? How will regional and national brewers fit in between the two extremes of large and small brewers? Our panellists from Spain, Germany, United Kingdom and Poland offer their views and opinions on all these questions, as well as take questions from you in the audience.

This session provides views from market and consumer analysts on what trends have developed during the Covid-19 outbreak and related lockdowns. Are these trends going to last and to what extent will the beer and alcoholic beverages world return to a pre-Covid normal?

Originating in the US in the early 2010s, hard seltzer – alcoholic, and often flavoured, sparkling water – has taken the North American RTD (ready-to-drink) category to another level. And now Europe is seeing a notable jump in hard seltzer launches. In this session, beverage specialist Kamini Dickie looks at why the popularity of hard seltzers continues to grow and what makes them a fresh alternative to the more traditional alcoholic drinks. Casey O’Neill, Boston Beer Company’s Director of Product Development, will share the brewer’s strategy in developing one of the world’s leading hard seltzer brands. And with consumers in search of diet-friendly and cleaner label alcoholic drinks, Rhodri Evans from the consultancy group at Exponent, a firm which consults across a wide range of areas including food and chemical regulation, will focus on the European marketing challenges from a product labelling and claims perspective.

The pandemic changed our way of life in ways no one could anticipate. Yet it also accelerated trends that had already begun, such as the digitalisation of the economy. Many companies have gone online and with the lockdowns all companies needed to choose this path; be it for visibility or for selling goods directly. Breweries have also embraced this movement but have faced hurdles. Clo shows us how to go beyond awareness on social media and create meaningful conversions, whilst Hugo explains how online sales directly to consumers can be boosted for small breweries.

With an exploding number of breweries in Europe – from 5,000 breweries 5 years ago to more than 10,000 breweries now – more brands and beer styles are available to consumers. Whilst established brewers have long benefited from their presence on supermarket shelves, smaller brewers are now competing for space there too.

This not only represents an important source of visibility and growth for new brewers, but also offers consumers a larger variety of choice. It’s proven to be vital during the closure of hospitality venues, when brewers needed to sell more through off-trade.  Charles-Antoine Clabaux, from Brasserie Ardwen, will tell us how he has managed to sell his beers to larger retailers- all whilst maintaining quality, reputation and a business-driven model. Tom Maneschijn, from Untappd, will explain how brewers can use the data provided by Apps and websites such as Untappd to identify where their beers are sold – or not – and more efficiently target their distribution and marketing efforts.

The 3^rd edition of The Brewers Forum is opened by our President Lasse Aho. You’ll hear how the brewing sector shapes up on both sides of the Atlantic, with Secretary-General of The Brewers of Europe Pierre-Olivier Bergeron and CEO/President of the Brewers Association Bob Pease, giving context of how beer has fared in the midst of the pandemic, the economic and regulatory challenges the sector will face in the next few years. The session concludes with a keynote address by M. Atsushi Katsuki-san, President and CEO of Asahi Group, who will share his vision of how a Japan-based global company anticipates the future.