Beers, soft drinks: Greek weather “damaged” sales in April – May

“Spring if you don’t find it, you make it”, wrote Nobel laureate poet Odysseus Elytis, but it is not always easy.

This year, there was practically no spring, since April and May in particular were unusually cold and rainy months. As a result, sales mainly in beer and secondarily in soft drinks “slowed down”, with companies losing the “speed” that their turnover had recorded during the first – not so wintery – quarter of the year.

Of course, everyone is hoping that the rest of the season (starting in mid-spring and extending almost until October) will compensate them thanks to the high expectations that have been cultivated for this year’s tourist traffic.

Sales of soft drinks “slipped” in the rain

“At the moment we are managing debts,” the owner of one of the large soft drinks companies told OT characteristically, answering the (classic) question “how are things going”. This is because the warehouses of the wholesalers are “loaded” with products, which have even been invoiced at higher prices, however the demand in April and May was not what was expected, especially for consumption outside the home, as it was… drowned by the spring rains.

As for the trend of soft drink sales in supermarkets, consumers burdened by general inflation are buying based on offers.

After all, monetary expenditure is the main criterion for the choice of food for two out of three consumers, as can be seen from the results of a rolling survey recently carried out by the Consumer Goods Retail Research Institute (IELKA) with a sample of 1,000 consumers.

Inside and – mainly – outside the home, it is estimated that in the two months of April – May, sales of soft drinks in volume fell by 10-15%.

It is noted that in 2022 volume sales in the hot market (supermarket) increased by approximately 2% compared to 2021 despite higher shelf prices.

The soft drinks market in Greece is close to 370 million euros and is growing – according to estimates – by approximately 5% per year.

Waiting for the summer and cool beers

Compared to soft drinks, it is estimated that the sales of beer in the two months of April – May were worse, as the HoReCa market due to the unstable weather did not meet expected targets.

Last year, although the beer market as a whole saw double-digit growth, the sector’s sales to all channels (retail, wholesale, HoReCa) reached 3.9 million hectoliters, not reaching the levels of 2019, when sales of all companies they amounted to about 4 million hectoliters.

However, the expectation of businesses operating in the brewing industry is this year to exceed the performance of 2019, a landmark year, as it was the last “normal” year before the pandemic, while a historical record was recorded in terms of tourist flows.

In the first quarter of 2023 beer moved upwards compared to the corresponding quarter of 2022, both in the hot market (supermarkets) and in the cold market (restaurants, cafes, bars, hotels, etc.).

In terms of price increases, recent figures from the Hellenic Brewers Association show price increases of up to 15% during 2023 in beer.

The tourism factor

In addition to… weather dependence, sales of beer and soft drinks are also largely linked to the course of the country’s heavy industry, which is none other than tourism.

For this year, Greek tourism is dominated by positive expectations for a new record year, but some “clouds” recorded in the atmosphere moderate the enthusiasm a little, as reported by OT.

Thus, although bookings started strongly in the first months of the year, now there is (with the exception of some flagship properties) a “relative hold”.

However, overall, during the period January-May this year, passenger traffic at Eleftherios Venizelos Airport amounted to 9.15 million, increased by 39.9% compared to 2022, but also by 5.9% compared to 2019.

For Greeks, on the other hand, vacations are not a given. Due to household spending cuts, 1 in 2 consumers say they will not take a vacation in 2023, while 1 in 3 say they will take a more limited vacation. 6 out of 10 consumers state that their spending this year will be reduced compared to last year, while 4 out of 10 that it will be reduced by more than 50% (IELKA data).