Consumers are punishing booze brands for price hikes, with Heineken the latest to report falling sales.
The Dutch lager brand sold 4.7% less beer in 2023 compared to the year before, according to its annual report. "2023 proved to be challenging," said Dolf van den Brink, chairman of Heineken's executive board.
The decline followed two price hikes during 2023 that left a glass or bottle of Heineken around 10% more expensive than in 2022.
According to van den Brink, who is also chief executive, the company’s "strong pricing" - which was imposed in response to "very high input and energy cost inflation and volatile macro-economic conditions" - in turn "affected our volume momentum."
The main Dutch breweries’ industry body had earlier announced a 2023 sales drop of 6.5% for pilsners. Beer sales in Germany also fell last year - by over 6%, going by government data.
Last week the Scotch Whisky Association said global sales were down, with the value of exports falling by 9.5% in 2023 and volume down by almost 20%, data that suggests rising prices are putting consumers off.
The French Association of Wine and Spirits Exporters (FEVS) said around the same time that the volume of booze exported from France fell by 10.4% in 2023.
Alcohol prices had already surged during 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. The war, involving two of Europe’s leading food commodity producers, saw prices climb not only for food items but for fuel and electricity needed to process and transport goods, adding to the cost for consumers.
In an effort to control inflation, central banks have been increasing interest rates, but those measures have added to costs for businesses, leading to dozens of so-called craft breweries going bust in the UK, in turn reducing options for thirsty consumers.
In late 2023, a team of Czech scientists warned beer could get more expensive due to shrinking crops of hops in Europe.
