Brewers measured volumes

The revision of the brand portfolio of global brewing companies could have a negative impact on their business in the Russian Federation. According to Kommersant, AB InBev Efes and Baltika, which is part of the Carlsberg Group, reduced their output in 2022, while Heineken maintained last year’s volumes. Expansion of distribution and assortment helped their local competitors, but experts do not expect a noticeable decrease in the share of the top three market leaders.

The largest beer producers in Russia – AB InBev Efes and Baltika (part of the Carlsberg Group) – have reduced the production of the drink in 2022, follows from the data provided to Kommersant by a market participant. According to these estimates, AB InBev Efes in the Russian Federation, the production of beer and beer drinks decreased by almost 2%, to 223.29 million decaliters; “Baltic” – by 4.7%, up to 197.42 million gave a year. The Russian structure, which occupies the third place in the market Heineken produced 93.65 million decaliters of products, up 0.4% year on year.

According to Rosalkogolregulirovanie, the total production of beer and beer drinks in Russia in 2022 increased by 0.33%, to 802.54 million decalitres.

Multinational brewing companies are optimizing their business in Russia after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine. Belgian AB InBev plans to sell a non-controlling stake in AB InBev Efes to Turkey’s Anadolu Efes, and suspension of licenses for some brands in Russia, including Bud and Leffe, may be part of the deal. Heineken and Carlsberg have announced they will stop bottling flagship brands in the country and plan to sell the local business.

AB InBev Efes declined to comment prior to the publication of the financial statements. In the third quarter of 2022, the brands Lowenbrau, Essa and Gold Mine Beer showed the best results in the company’s portfolio, AB InBev Efes reported. Baltika and Heineken did not provide any comments.

Aleksey Nebolsin, a member of the Presidium of Opora Rossii, links the results of multinational companies with the reduction in their portfolios of global brands.

Nikolai Zhelagin, the founder of the Take a Day Off network, adds that the drop in production could have been more significant, given the fame of the departed brands.

Included in the top five players, the Moscow Brewing Company (MPK) in 2022, according to Kommersant’s data, reduced production by 9%, to 36.93 million decaliters. Kommersant’s interlocutors in the market explain this by the termination of the production of some global brands under license. Among the licensed brands in the catalog on the IPC website are Bavaria, Faxe, Hollandia, Schlitz. The IPC “Kommersant” also did not answer. In 2022, the IPC announced the cessation of bottling of Ukrainian Obolon beer.

MPBK Ochakovo (brands Ochakovo, Barley Kolos, Khalzan, etc.) became the fastest growing beer producer among the ten largest players in 2022.

According to Kommersant’s data, the company increased the bottling of the drink by 59.2%, up to 17.2 million decalitres, which corresponds to the sixth place. MPBK Ochakovo noted that in 2022 they began to work more actively with retail chains, expanded their geographical presence, and consumer demand for local products increased. The growth of outlets interested in the new line of carbonated drinks also helped to expand the presence of beer products, Ochakovo adds.

Igor Khavsky, co-owner of the SWAM Group distributor and the Gletcher brewery, says that the distribution capacity of global players will eventually replace the departed brands and it is hardly worth expecting a decrease in the shares of transnational producers at least in the near future. According to NielsenIQ, the top three players accounted for 68.5% of the beer market in the money in 2022, up from 68.6% a year earlier.

Aleksey Nebolsin predicts that in 2023 the entire beer market is likely to experience a drop in demand and production, including due to the departure of some consumers from the country and the launch of a labeling system. The TsRPT labeling system operator emphasizes that all pilot projects at enterprises have shown a positive result without affecting production processes. According to Nikolai Zhelagin, if there are no global political upheavals, beer consumption in Russia is likely to remain at the current level, while regional brewers may continue to increase their shares by reducing imports.

Anatoly Kostyrev