The World Cup in football traditionally represents one of the most important events for the brewing industry.
Although there are no uniform data on global consumption during the World Cup, experiences and data from individual countries show that beer sales on match days can increase by tens of percent, especially in catering and retail.
According to the latest data from the Association of Brewers of Serbia, beer consumption per capita in this country was at the level of 65.6 liters in 2024, which is slightly higher than the annual average of European countries, which was 64.8 liters.
The World Cup is no longer a guarantee of higher sales
The president of the Association of Small Independent Breweries of Serbia, Dejan Smiljanić, points out that the effect of major events such as football competitions in Serbia is not so pronounced and that the situation in society and lower spending power influence the decline in consumption.
“Beer sales are declining. Big breweries are finding new tools and methods to hold onto the market, and it’s getting harder for us. The overall situation in society is felt. The purchasing power of customers has never been great, but now a drastic difference is visible. People simply spend less today, which can be seen at the events we participate in,” points out Smiljanić, reports b92.
Customers are changing their habits and drinking less alcohol
He estimates that the sale of alcohol is generally in decline, and he sees the reason as a change in consumer habits.
“Through the sales structure, we see that consumer habits are really changing, as well as the way of consumption. People today want to drink quality beer and enjoy it. The point is no longer to get drunk, and non-alcoholic drinks are increasingly being chosen,” says Smiljanić.
Small breweries facing rising costs
Small, craft breweries have additional problems in the procurement of raw materials. Namely, they are forced to import malt directly from producers in the Czech Republic in order to be able to amortize the price.
“The problem is that our only maltster that has correct prices can no longer provide the quality of raw material that we used to get. They do not have an adequate packaging machine that we need, and we cannot, like large breweries, take trucks, but we purchase in some other packaging that they cannot provide, so we are forced to buy from suppliers that have imported malt”, explains Smiljanić.
For this reason, as he states, several small independent breweries joined together to jointly import malt and thus provide quality raw material at a price that is acceptable for their production.
“We practically added another job that we don’t need, just to amortize that price,” he adds.
Kraft beer is gaining more and more value
Despite the challenges, Smiljanić believes that consumer awareness of the quality of craft beer has changed significantly in recent years.
“The difference is very visible. People will rather drink one quality beer that meets their needs than ten industrial ones. Consumers today want to enjoy craft beer, and this is a trend we clearly notice,” he says.
According to the estimates of the Association of Small Independent Brewers, there are currently around 66 small craft breweries operating in Serbia.
“The number is constantly changing because some breweries are opening and some are closing. We as an association are working on the Map of craft breweries of Serbia, but this year we did not manage to get an official list from the Register of Breweries. According to our estimates, there are currently around 66,” says Smiljanić.
Craft breweries continue to predominantly market their products through catering facilities.
“There are specialized bars that are completely dedicated to craft beer, but today a large number of catering establishments have at least one or two types of craft beer, either in bottles, cans or on tap. The situation in this regard is much better than a few years ago,” concludes Smiljanić.
