bier
Haacht Brewery went into the red last year, partly because less beer is consumed in cafés and restaurants. Parent company Co.Br.Ha will not pay out a dividend.
Brouwer Haacht, the producer of beers such as Primus, Tongerlo, Super 8 and Charles Quint, suffered a net loss of 4.4 million euros in 2023. A year earlier there was a profit of 4.8 million euros. The company refers to a decline in beverage sales of 4.7 percent (-4.4 percent for its own beers) and also to higher costs. “The strong increases in raw material prices, energy costs and the indexation of operating costs in 2023 were only partly offset by price increases and better sales in the non-beer segment,” it said in the publication of the annual results.
In Belgium, beer consumption fell by 5.5 percent compared to 2022: -6 percent in the catering industry and -5 percent in shops.
Beer sales in the catering industry have been declining for some time. But the trend was strengthened in 2023, says Brouwerij Haacht. “Due to general price and cost inflation, consumers spent less, and moreover, more catering establishments closed their doors after the disappearance of corona support, such as popular cafés in non-urban areas.”
Turnover was even higher: +5.9 percent to 118.9 million euros. The brewery also invested more (16.7 million euros), partly due to catching up after lower investments during the corona years.
The parent company Co.Br.Ha says that actions have been initiated to improve profitability again. It also expects better margins thanks to lower raw material and energy prices. And there will also be fewer investments in 2024. The brewer warns that market conditions are “particularly uncertain and challenging”. “During the first months of 2024, beer consumption in the Belgian catering industry fell further,” he says. “We hope to compensate for this decline by focusing more on specialty beers and non-alcoholic beers.”
