UK beer sales fell flat for Heineken last summer

HEINEKEN sold less beer in the UK last summer owing to a 7 per cent price rise and cool, rainy weather that checked outdoor partying.

Dolf van den Brink, chief executive at Heineken, which also owns Amstel, Birra Moretti and Tiger, blamed July and August’s “adverse weather” although sales picked up in September.

Beer sales throughout Europe fell by 7.6 per cent while prices rose by around 12 per cent owing to inflation and the growing popularity of premium ales and lagers.

Globally, the volume of sales dropped 4.2 per cent as prices rose 9.5 per cent, accounting for sales of €9.6 billion for the third quarter of the year.

Price inflation had slowed but there was less demand, with some markets facing “challenging macroeconomic conditions”, Van den Brink said.

Speaking to the Guardian, Steve Clayton the head of equity funds at brokers Hargreaves Lansdown, agreed that Heineken’s UK figures were the result of “endless weeks of cloud and drizzle.”

Notwithstanding the British summer, Clayton said the brewing company had done better than expected.

“Overall, Heineken believe they have held or gained market share in over half of their markets, even when volumes have proven hard to grow,” he said, revealing that the group intended to stick to their full-year expectations.

“Heineken expect to deliver stable to mid-single-digit growth in operating profit in 2023, despite the challenging environment,” he added.