The temperatures are rising and the beer gardens are filling up – only guests can expect rising prices for beer. Kar-Tr/Getty Images
The price of beer in Germany is currently rising rapidly. This is shown by an exclusive evaluation by the market research company Nielsen IQ for Business Insider.
For a liter of wheat you pay an average of 1.54 euros in retail – ten cents and thus 6.9 percent more than in the previous year. The price for a liter of Pils rose by 7.5 percent to 1.29 euros.
Until 2020, the price of beer had mostly increased by between one and five cents. And the German Brewers’ Association continues to warn against high production costs. There is “no reason to give the all-clear,” says Brauer-Bund boss Holger Eichele.
Summer time is also beer garden time for many people in Germany. However, if the prices in supermarkets and discounters are an indication, the next price shock is likely to threaten on the wooden benches under the parasol. Because an evaluation by the market research company Nielsen IQ for Business Insider shows: The average price for beer, namely the Pils and wheat varieties, rose significantly in the first half of this year.
Since January, consumers have paid an average of EUR 1.54 for a liter of wheat – ten cents or 6.9 percent more than in the same period last year. Consumer prices for Pils rose similarly: by nine cents to EUR 1.29. This corresponds to a price increase of 7.5 percent.
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Even if it’s a matter of cents, it’s increasing significantly faster than in previous years. The price increase there was usually between one and four cents, as an analysis by Nielsen IQ in August 2022 showed.
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So there have been tighter price increases since the beginning of the pandemic, when sales of draft beer to bars and restaurants collapsed completely at times. For the beer and wheat varieties, however, the price increases had not hit the ground as much as for other types of beer, explains Marcus Strobl, Senior Analytic Consultant at NIQ. “But you can no longer see this effect in the current year,” he says. “The average price in the food trade is now also increasing significantly for Pilsner and wheat varieties.”
Brewers sound the alarm – and criticize the pricing policy of the trade
If you follow the German Brewers’ Association, the end of the road has not yet been reached. In a press release, he recently criticized the pricing policy of the food trade, i.e. supermarkets and discounters. They would only pay the breweries 7.5 percent more for the beer they produce – but overall these so-called producer prices for food and beverages have risen by 12.9 percent.
That leaves room for further price increases. Especially since a survey by the Brauer-Bund shows that the approximately 1,500 German breweries are still facing exploded production costs. The state price brakes have absorbed some peaks in the costs of electricity and gas. But prices for other ingredients and materials have also exploded. Brauer-Bund boss Holger Eichele therefore sees “no reason to give the all-clear”.
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Beer production: Up to 500 percent surcharge for gas
With additional costs of 150 or 500 percent, depending on the individual contract, electricity and gas remain the biggest cost items. But carbon dioxide also drives up the costs. Here breweries pay 135 percent more than at the beginning of 2022. The reason for this was the Ukraine war. Because carbonic acid is a by-product of the energy-intensive production of fertilizers – many manufacturers had reduced their production because of the high gas prices. Manufacturers pay further large surcharges for brewing malt and new glass.
German Brewers Association
The current costs in May 2023 were compared with the level before the Ukraine war broke out in February 2022. Eichele criticized the fact that some retail groups were talking about reduced costs for raw materials and called for “partnership-based behavior”.