Growth in long drink sales continued, summer heat wave stimulated thirst for mineral water

Press release 6 November 2003

Domestic sales by members of the Finnish Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry 1.1. – 30.9.2003 

GROWTH IN LONG DRINK SALES CONTINUED, SUMMER HEAT WAVE STIMULATED THIRST FOR MINERAL WATER

Despite a brief heat wave in the late weeks of the summer, beverage sales in the Finnish domestic market by members of the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry were down 3.2 per cent in the first nine months of the year. Beer sales fell 2.9 per cent. The strongest influence of the hot July weeks was felt in sales of mineral water, which grew by a million litres on the previous year’s figure. As cider sales fell, sales of long drinks increased by 1.2 million litres compared with the corresponding period of the previous year.

Beer sales to the end of September totalled 304.4 million litres. This represented a fall of 9.2 million litres compared with the corresponding period of the previous year. Sales of medium-strength beer were down by 5.9 million litres, whilst sales of strong beer (sold by the Alko state liquor monopoly) declined by 1.9 million litres. The biggest slump in relative terms was in sales of beer through Alko and restaurants. 9.6 per cent less beer was sold through Alko than in the corresponding period of the previous year and restaurant sales fell 4.8 per cent. Beer sales through retail outlets fell 1.7 per cent.

A total of 35.4 million litres of cider was sold. This was 4.1 million litres (10.4 per cent) less than in the first nine months of 2002. By contrast, sales of long drinks grew by 1.2 million litres (6.6%) to a total of 18.7 million litres for the nine months.

Mineral water sales to the end of September totalled 51.4 million litres. A heat wave lasting a few weeks in late summer was not enough to compensate for the low level of beverage sales during the cold and rainy early weeks of the summer, and only mineral water sales grew by one million litres (2.1 per cent). Soft drink sales totalled 228.3 million litres, 4.3 per cent less than in the corresponding period of the previous year. Sales of soft drinks containing sugar fell 6.5 per cent, whilst sales of sugar-free soft drinks increased by 2.3 per cent. The statistics do not include sales by actors outside the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry, nor private imports of brewery products, which are not statistically recorded.

DOMESTIC SALES JANUARY - SEPTEMBER 2003

Drink	2003 mill.l	2002 mill.l.	Change mill.l.	Change %
Beer, max. 2,8 alc.vol.	7,5	8,8	-1,3	-15,2
Beer, max. 4,7 alc.vol.	277,6	283,5	-5,9	-2,1
Beer, above 4,7 alc.vol.	19,4	21,2	-1,9	-8,9
Beer total	304,4	313,5	-9,2	-2,9
Cider	35,4	39,5	-4,1	-10,4
Long drink	18,7	17,6	1,2	6,6
Soft drink	228,3	238,5	-10,2	-4,3
Mineral water	51,4	50,3	1,0	2,1
Sales total	638,1	659,3	-21,3	-3,2

Source: Member companies of the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry

Additional information:
Communications Manager Katri Tuulensuu, tel. +358 (0)9 1488 7601, GSM +358 (0)40 777 1938
Managing Director Risto Saarinen, tel. +358 (0)9 1488 71

The Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry promotes the interests of producers of beer, cider, long drinks, soft drinks and mineral waters in Finland. Its members are Oy Hartwall Ab, Olvi Oyj, Pirkanmaan Uusi Panimo - PUP Oy and Oy Sinebrychoff Ab. The Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry operates in connection with the Finnish Food and Drink Industries' Federation and is among the three largest industries in the food and drink branch in terms of the value of production.