On-trade grows share of declining market
The on-trade’s share of beer sales grew last year from 69.2 per cent to 71.2 per cent.
And beer, as a proportion of the overall alcohol mix, also managed to claw back a percentage point, rising from 50 per cent in 2008 to 51 per cent last year. The good news for the on-trade comes from the Irish Brewers Association’s recently-published Irish Beer Market 2009.
For its part, wine enjoyed a 23 per cent share of overall market, consistent with last year, but spirits fell to 18 per cent from 2008’s 20 per cent share while cider grew share from eight per cent to nine per cent last year.
In the same manner beer excise receipts, at €404 million last year, represent an increasing proportion of overall excise receipts on alcohol at 42 per cent in 2009, up one percentage point from the previous year.
Draught beer continues to predominate channel sales at 63.6 per cent, up one percentage point from 2008, while bottled grew share to 15.2 per cent from 14.9 per cent.
Canned lost share in 2009 at 21.2 per cent, down from 22.5 per cent the previous year.
Lager remains the major seller in beer, accounting for 58.6 per cent (up 0.1 per cent from 2008) at the expense of stout which fell back by the same amount to 35.4 per cent from 35.5 per cent last year.
The numbers employed in the production and distribution of beer in this country have fallen 10.5 per cent from 1,797 in 2008 to 1,609 last year as overall consumption fell 7.7 per cent to 4.8 million Hectolitres from 5.2 million in 2008. Per capita beer consumption also reduced 7.7 per cent to 91 Litres from 2008’s 98.6 Litres.
This compares with a UK per capita beer consumption figure of 84 Litres or a Czech Republic figure of 154 Litres.
Exports of beer also fell back one per cent from 41 per cent of production to 40 per cent last year.
Beer’s share of overall alcohol consumption has consistently fallen over the last few years from 60 per cent in 1999 to 50 per cent in 2008, returning to growth to 51 per cent in 2009.
