The growth in beer sales in bottles and cans only partially replaces the decline. Total losses are calculated in the hundreds of millions of crowns per month.
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Large industrial breweries expect sales to fall by tens of percent. Even worse are restaurants and other mini-breweries, for which the sale of draft beer is dominant.
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Higher beer sales in stores, according to a survey by the Nielsen agency for Plzeňský Prazdroj, replace only a small part of consumption from closed pubs. “While in the spring every fourth beer not drunk in a pub was poured into the shops, now it’s less. Fewer people go to the shops, which is also reflected in the sales of bottled beer, “said Prazdroj’s sales director Tomáš Mráz.
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More beer on Friday
During the first wave, many customers tried to buy food online and some of them stayed with it even after restrictions were reduced. Therefore, according to Mráz, Prazdroj also focuses on the development of this sector.
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The effects of the second wave of the pandemic will be great for Ostrava’s Ostravar as well. “Beer consumption in gastronomy is minimal, pubs try to sell through the window, but the autumn cold weather does not wish for that much,” said head brewer Jan Řehůřek. Dispatch of bottled Ostravar runs normally, for draft beer it is limited to smaller packages and for export.
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“Again, we are trying to help pubs. We cooperate with them on the treatment and preservation of tapping and tank technologies, we give them significant discounts on the purchase of canned beer, we provide PET bottles free of charge for taking home beer, “he described.
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In addition to the pandemic, the Konrad brewery in Liberec-Vratislavice must also deal with the consequences of a fire that broke out in the brewery complex at the end of June. “We still have to buy malt. We will start malting in the first quarter of next year, “Petr Hostaš, the director and brewer of the brewery in one person, told Práva.
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We try to convert as much of our production as possible into PET bottles and bottles, but it has its limits
co-owner of a mini-brewery
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The brewery is also experiencing a shortage of draft beer. “As for the bottles and cans, fortunately there was no slump. Thanks to that, we are about sixty percent of previous production, “said Hostaš. The brewery tries to keep all its employees and does not lay off. He invents a substitute job for some of them.
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“After the closure of restaurants and bars, sales of bottled beer rose to a quarter of our total production, beer consumption in kegs is minimal. We try to do our best to survive this period. For example, we started selling tank beer in PET bottles, which is very popular, especially among local residents, “said Věra Schmidttová, Sales Director of Chotěboř Brewery in the Havlíčkův Brod Region, for Právo.
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The Beskydy Brewery in Ostravice in the Frýdek-Místek Region is also trying to minimize losses and maintain sales. “We try to transfer as much of our production as possible to PET bottles and bottles, but it has its limits,” outlined the co-owner of the mini-brewery Dušan Holý.
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Prague saves us
The Trautenberk brewery in Horní Krkonoše in the Krkonoše Mountains, whose main customers are now closed mountain huts and hotels, has significantly reduced the usual exhibitions. “We don’t cook, we sell out supplies. Bottles now travel the most to the pivots in Prague, barrels are sold to a minimum. Prague is saving us now, “stated the operators of the mountain brewery.
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“We just hope that it won’t take long and the government will reopen the pubs,” believes Martin Velísek, brewer of the Malenovice brewery in Zlín, saying that the consumption of beer will hopefully be kicked out by Christmas.
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