Beer in Poland Information & Beer in Poland Links at HealthHaven.com

Beer in Poland has always been important for Poles. Traditional Polish beer (Polish: Piwo) is Okocim, Królewskie, and Żywiec.

[edit] Industry

According to a 2006 Ernst & Young report, the Polish beer market is the Europe's fifth-largest and the tenth-largest in the world. It is also one of the fastest-growing markets with the growth rate of 3-5% per year much above the EU average. Polish brewers made about 7% of the entire European production volume in 2005. Statistically, a Pole drinks some 69 litres of beer a year, which is the EU average^{[citation needed]}.

In 2005, breweries paid some PLN 2.5bn in excise taxes and a total of PLN 6bn in all types of taxes to the state and local budgets.

Following a consecutive growth of the home market Związek Pracodawców Przemysłu Piwowarskiego (Union of the Brewing Industry Employers in Poland) which represents approx. 90% of Polish beer market announced during annual brewing industry conference that consumption of beer in the year 2008 has risen to 94 litres per capita what gives a total of 35,624 millions of hectolitres sold on domestic market. Due to this fact Poland jumped to 4th place in Europe in terms of beer consumption per capita just after Danes (97 litres), Germans (118 litres) and of course Czechs (162 litres).

[edit] Foreign investment

Heineken-owned Żywiec, SABMiller-owned Kompania Piwowarska, and Carlsberg-owned Okocim control a total of 85% of the Polish market^{[citation needed]}. Foreign investors have so far invested about €1bn in Poland and relocated some of their production to the country, thanks to which Polish beer exports, mostly sold under flagship international brands, rose to 3% of the total production volume in 2005.

[edit] External links

Polish beer caps (in Polish and Russian)