Dutch beer sales continue to fall

Beer sales in the Netherlands have fallen by more than 5% in the first six month of 2024, according to the trade association Nederlandse Brouwers. The group of Dutch brewers said that bad weather and higher excise duties were to blame for the poor beer sales. A spokesperson for the NU.nl said it was a “really significant drop across the board” with sales of off-trade beer falling by 6.6%, and within the on-trade and hospitality it falling by 1.9%. In terms of beer styles, Pils, which accounts for around 75% of the whole market share of beer sales, fell by 4.4%. Speciality beers fell by 4.6% and other beers, which represent a much smaller volume, fell by 16.5%. Interestingly, the brewers group said that the drop in the sale of non-alcoholic beer of 10% was “striking”. Previously, the group described alcohol-free beer as the “growth engine” for sales in the past decade, up by 55% between 2010 and 2022. It also said more variants of alcohol-free beer had been added during the ...