Brewers Assoc says higher value beer up in lockdown

The Brewers Association says that new figures from Statistics New Zealand show how the Delta lockdown in Auckland has impacted the beer sector over the last quarter. It says that while there was a drop in overall beer available for consumption during the July to September 2021 period, there was also a shift to higher value beers.

“The data for the period July to September 2021 shows overall beer available for consumption in New Zealand was reduced by 8.7%,” said Brewers Association Executive Director Dylan Firth. “However, a noticeable shift to beer of 5% alcohol by volume and over, which traditionally would signal craft and premium brands, has grown by 42%.”

He says this signals that consumers were looking to have slightly fewer drinking occasions and focus on quality and premium brands when they chose to enjoy a beer.

“The data comes on the back of some slight volume increases at the beginning of 2021, after the initial March 2020 lockdowns had also seen some reduction in consumption. The major driver behind these shifts was that in 2020, during that six-month period we had quite a long lockdown, and again for Auckland in the second half of 2021, people were drinking less overall.”

Firth says it had been frustrating to see rhetoric at the beginning of the latest lockdown around a spike in alcohol sales.

“We know from experience and Statistics NZ data, that there is a short sharp burst at the beginning of lockdown but then sales drop off because people had stocked up.”

“What we do know is that breweries, large and small, across New Zealand have had another challenging year with fewer channels to market open through hospitality shutdowns, less sales through their own tap rooms and issues with logistics for delivery.”

“Brewing is a valuable contributor to New Zealand within this value chain adding $634 million to GDP. The brewing industry also supports over 7000 jobs through brewing and the purchase of intermediate inputs to the brewing process, paying over $470m in wages. It’s really important to acknowledge the significant contribution to the New Zealand economy the brewing sector provides, not to mention the significant revenue that is received by the government with the brewing industry contributing $810 million last year in GST and Excise Tax.”

“The sector is extremely diverse and the largest to smallest breweries have really worked hard with major shifts in how they do business to pull back from a hugely difficult 2020 and again in 2021.

Firth says the Association is hopeful that New Zealanders who enjoy a beer will support their local as hospitality opens up again.