Domestic sales January - March 2005: Slight rise in beer sales in the first months of the year, other beverage sales muted

Press release 28 April 2005

Domestic sales by members of the Finnish Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry 1 January - 31 March 2005

Slight rise in beer sales in the first months of the year, other beverage sales muted

During the first quarter of 2005, total sales of beer, cider, long drinks, soft drinks and mineral waters rose by 1.5 per cent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. Beer sales rose by 5.4 per cent, whilst sales of other beverages were on a downward trend. However, due to last year’s drastic changes in the business environment, comparisons to the previous year after such a short review period are misleading.

Members of the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry sold a total of 172.3 million litres of beverages. Sales rose by 1.5 per cent, which was 2.6 million litres more than in the January-March period last year.

Beer sales from breweries to shops and restaurants totalled 88.8 million litres in the first quarter. Sales rose by 5.4 per cent – a total of 4.6 million litres – on the previous year. However, due to last spring’s drastic changes, comparison of figures from the first quarter with those of last year does not yet provide a reliable view of total sales. Beer sales this year were still fuelled by heavy discounts from shop promotions, and also by Easter falling in March. Last year, the tax on beer fell as from the beginning of March. As a consequence, shops emptied their inventories in February and only replenished stocks in March, preparing for the large increase in beer sales.

Cider sales totalled 7.3 million litres, representing a small 1.2 per cent fall. Long drink sales remained roughly at the same level as last year, although there was a decrease of 0.4 per cent. Long drink sales totalled 4.6 million litres.

Sales of soft drinks totalled 58.5 million litres in the first quarter, falling by 1.4 per cent. Sales of mineral waters totalled 12.8 million litres, which was 7.7 per cent less than the year before.

DOMESTIC SALES JANUARY - MARCH 2005

Beverage	2005 mill.l	2004 mill.l.	Change mill.l.	Change %
Beer	88.8	84.2	4.6	5.4
Cider	7.3	7.4	-0.1	-1.2
Long drink	4.6	4.6	0.0	-0.4
Soft drink	58.8	59.6	-0.8	-1.4
Mineral water	12.8	13.9	-1.1	-7.7
Sales total	172.3	169.7	2.6	1.5

Source: Member companies of the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry. The statistics do not include sales by actors outside the Federation, nor private imports of brewery products, which are not statistically recorded.

All studies indicate that private imports of alcoholic beverages – especially from Estonia – have increased significantly and are still a threat to domestic beverage manufacturers. An average of over 364,000 cans of beer alone are currently imported from abroad each day. If prices in Finland were higher, the amount would be even greater. Disregarding the threat from imports is therefore pointless. The only way to calm the market and safeguard domestic beer production is to reduce beer tax to half its current level.

Additional information:
Communications Manager Katri Tuulensuu, tel. +358 (0)9 1488 7601, GSM +358 (0)40 777 1938
Managing Director Timo Jaatinen, 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, Nokian Panimo Oy, Olvi Oyj 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 four largest industries in the food and drink branch in terms of the value of production.