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PRESS RELEASE: 24.04.2008 Domestic sales by members of the Finnish Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry 1 January - 31 March 2007 Fall in first-quarter beer salesDuring the first quarter, from the beginning of January to the end of March, Finns drank a total of 175.2 million litres of brewery beverages. Beverage sales fell 2.4 per cent on the previous year. During the first three months of 2008, beer sales were down 4 million litres on the previous year. Changes in legislation at the turn of the year and the higher price of beer have been factors in this decline. Members of the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry sold a total of 175.2 million litres of beverages by the end of March. Beverage sales were down by 4.3 million litres, or 2.4 per cent. A decline was seen in beverage sales – and in beer sales in particular – even though Easter fell in March this year. Beer sales totalled 85.1 million litres, which is 4 million litres, or 4.6 per cent, less than a year ago. Sales of cider also fell by 0.3 million litres, although long drink sales rose by 0.4 million litres. A total of 7.5 million litres of cider were sold, and long drink sales topped 6.7 million litres. Long drink sales are already closing in on cider sales with growth of 5.7 per cent. Sales of cider fell by 4 per cent. Sales of soft drinks also fell slightly short of last year’s figures. A total of 61.8 million litres of soft drinks were sold, representing a fall of 0.4 per cent. First-quarter sales of mineral waters remained at almost the same level as in the previous year, totalling 14.2 million litres. “At the beginning of 2008, Finnish beer taxation was increased and is now the highest in the EU. This, combined with continually growing manufacturing costs, has raised the price of beer. The restrictions on promotions and changes in multipack pricing that came into force at the turn of the year have also subdued off-trade promotional competition. The impact of the increased price level on private imports will only be apparent after the summer travelling season. The early summer weather is also a decisive factor for trends in the industry’s sales,” says Timo Jaatinen, Managing Director of the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry. DOMESTIC SALES JANUARY - MARCH 2008
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. Additional information: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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