Beer Day event highlights the current trends in the brewing industry in the domestic and international market.
For the second consecutive year, the Hellenic Association of Brewers organized a successful event dedicated to beer, the Beer Day event, during the annual HORECA expo. The event was hosted by the well-known TV presenter, Petros Polichronidis.
Throughout the event, the current trends of the brewing sector, in Greece and abroad, were discussed, while the audience had once more the chance to participate in beer tasting and blind tasting of known and unknown types of beers.
The event hosted well known professionals from the member breweries of the association.
Mr. S. Panagiotou, President of the Association, Founder & co-owner of Septem microbrewery, Mr. Al. Daniilidis, Vice President of the Association, Managing Director of Athenian Brewery, Mr. J. Marmarellis, Vice President of the Association, Founder & owner of Siris Microbrewery, Mr. P. Avramidis, member of the Board, Managing Director of Elixi microbrewery, Mr. V. Filippou, Insights & Innovation Manager of Olympic Brewery, Mr. G. Petrou, owner of Pineios Brewery, Mr. K. Agouridas, Brewer of Cretan Breweries Zidianakis.
From the positions of some of the most important representatives of the country’s beer industry, it seems that an immediate priority of all is to address the seasonality that characterizes the beer market in Greece. Additionally, to create a consumer beer culture and education, with the aid of craft beer, which is growing more and more, both in Greece and abroad. In the years to come, more and more breweries consider investing on other subcategories, such as beer with low or no alcohol, aiming to approach new consumers who were difficult to approach in the past.
During the open discussion with the public, Mr. S. Panagiotou, President of the Association, Founder & co-owner of Septem microbrewery, emphasized on “microbreweries in Greece, are now more than 50 altogether, while the per capita consumption remains stable at 35-36 liters annually, which only proves that the beer market does not develop as a category, but there is a shift in market shares, with a significant increase in the percentage of craft beer. Due to the seasonality of beer in Greece, the cooperation of all brewers is required, for the consumer to understand that the variety and diversity of beers in the market can cover every occasion».
Particularly interesting is the placement of Mr. Al. Daniilidis, Vice President of the Association & Managing Director of Athenian Brewery, who emphasized that “the beer category has proven to be quite resilient during the economic crisis and also mentioned the positive impact of the sector in the economy, taking into consideration that from the raw materials to trade, beer is produced in Greece and exports are more than imports”.
According to Mr. P. Avramidis, Managing Director of Elixi microbrewery, “tourism has played an important role in the consumption of local beer and gives the opportunity to microbreweries to gain recognition abroad and address to a wider range of consumers, and not only to Greek expatriates”.
This point was also mentioned by Mr. J. Marmarelis, Vice President of the Association, Founder & owner of Siris Microbrewer, who mentioned that “tourism and foreign markets were the ones that indicated the prospects of the microbreweries to the Greek business sector”.
Mr. G. Petrou, owner of Pineios Brewery, emphasized on “the responsibility of the microbreweries to bring the consumers closer to the product of beer, to educate them and to urge them to learn its raw materials and its different types”.
Mr. V. Filippou, Insights & Innovation Manager of Olympic Brewery, noted that “beer, over the last 3 years, has known a boom, especially in 2019 it has developed in all categories, including premium beer, mostly thanks to Pilsner. The category that has increased by 40% and we believe has a future, is the subcategory of beer with no alcohol. It can grow the category and bring in, new consumers, and it is now up to companies to understand the new emerging needs.
In other parts of the event, professionals from related companies, discussed on the technical specifications for setting up a microbrewery, having as examples the case studies of the successful member microbreweries of the Hellenic Association of Brewers.
From the part of beer outlets, owners of successful beer outlets, shared with the public important tips for setting up and running a successful beer outlet, focusing on equipment, staff training, types of beer and the beer list.
For one more year, beer tasting and especially blind tasting of different types of beer has gained the public interest.The audience had the chance to get to know the basic types of beer and their characteristics and was asked to recognize them during the blind tasting, which was the last part of this successful event.
