Sales of commercial beer to restaurants by four major beer makers last month have been recovering for the second consecutive month as the infection situation of the new coronavirus has settled down and the demand for eating out at the end of the year has been recovering. Increased.
According to four major beer makers, last month's sales volume and sales of commercial beer for restaurants were about 30% to 50% higher than in the same month.
While the infection situation of the new corona has settled down and the provision of alcoholic beverages has been approved, the demand for eating out at the end of the year has been recovering, and each company has been positive for the second consecutive month.
On the other hand, the total sales volume and sales of "beer-based beverages" including beer, low-malt beer, and third beer for home and business use for the last year were
▽ Kirin, Asahi, and Sapporo minus 4%.
▽ Suntory was minus 8%, which was minus for all four companies.
The third beer, which is in high demand for household use, has been declining in demand compared to the previous year due to the effect of the tax rate being raised due to the revision of the Liquor Tax Law, and the provision of alcoholic beverages has been suspended due to a state of emergency. This is because it did not work as a whole for business use because it continued for a long time.
Kenichi Shiozawa, president of Asahi Breweries, said about the future outlook, "If the re-infection makes it impossible to serve alcoholic beverages at restaurants, sales will be greatly affected, so the future is uncertain. I think it's hard to come back. "
The strategy of each company is to re-expand corona infection
With the re-expansion of the new coronavirus infection, the outlook is becoming more uncertain, and major beer companies are actively trying to capture new demand by launching health-oriented beer for commercial use. It has become.
Of these, Suntory Beer will roll out the "zero sugar" beer released last year for commercial use from March this year.
As the demand for eating out showed a recovery toward the end of last year when the infection situation of the new corona was calm, Suntory wants to meet the demand of consumers who are highly conscious of health even for commercial use.
On the other hand, for home use,
▽ Asahi Breweries is planning to significantly renew the packaging and taste of its main brand for the first time since its launch more than 30 years ago.
In addition,
▽ Kirin Beer plans to capture further demand by increasing the types of craft beer provided by the service of delivering draft beer to homes.
In addition to consumers' departure from beer, there are concerns about further market shrinkage due to the re-expansion of infection, and each company wants to meet diverse needs and increase the profitability of its business.