Paris (AFP)

"France becomes a country of breweries": thanks to the frantic pace of creation of craft breweries and with the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union, France became Friday the first European country in terms of number of breweries , according to Brasseurs de France.

France currently has "nearly 2,000" breweries, located throughout the territory and "which offer more than 6,000 different brands", welcomes the union, which mentions about 2,100 breweries in the United Kingdom.

Now second on the European podium, Germany has some 1,500 breweries, according to Maxime Costilhes, managing director of Brasseurs de France.

But, tempers Mr. Costilhes, in France, "there are 80% of very small breweries, it has nothing to do with Germany, in terms of size and in terms of production". Far behind the Heineken and Kronenbourg behemoths, these micro-breweries produce, according to him, less than 300 hectoliters of beer per year.

A balance of power confirmed by Eurostat: in 2018, Germany alone produced more than 20% of total beer production in Europe, France around 5%, according to the European statistical agency.

The proliferation of these small brewers, now present in all departments, has supported a marked increase in consumption over the past five years. Historically blocked at 30 liters per year and per capita, the French consumed on average in 2018, some 33 liters on average.

France, a large consumer of wine, has nevertheless regained the last place in the EU for beer, behind Italy, which was 34 liters per year per capita in 2018, still very far from Germany, by example, whose consumption is between 90 and 100 liters, for a European average of 70 liters.

"Consumption has not decreased, but it has not increased as fast as in Italy", explains Mr. Costilhes, before adding a note of humor: "The good news is that creates jobs, creates businesses and it has no impact on public health. "

"But the fact remains that symbolically, France becomes the first country in the European Union in number of breweries, France becomes a country of breweries and a country of beers," he adds.

A trend that seems set to last a little longer: between closings and creations, Brasseurs de France has a clean brewery created per day for two years.

"There are many regions where there were no breweries at all, whereas in Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, in the historic brewery countries, there are breweries in all regions, "concludes Costilhes.

© 2020 AFP