Domestic sales by members of the Finnish Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry 1 January - 30 June 2008
Beer sales in Finland during the first half of the year fell 4.4 per cent compared to the previous year. Total sales of brewery products as a whole dipped by 3.4 per cent. Only long drink sales saw a slight rise.
A total of 409.4 million litres of beer, cider, long drinks, soft drinks and mineral waters were sold during the first half of 2008. Total sales fell by 14.3 million litres, or 3.4 per cent.
Members of the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry sold a total of 203.4 million litres of beer during the January-June period. Sales fell by 9.3 million litres, or 4.4 per cent, on the corresponding period of last year.
Long drinks were the only beverage to continue their sales growth, with sales increasing by a million litres to 17.1 million litres by the end of June. Sales of ciders totalled 19.1 million litres – a fall of 1.2 million litres on last year.
136.6 million litres of soft drinks and 33.1 million litres of mineral waters were sold. Compared to the first half of 2007, sales of soft drinks fell by 2.2 per cent and mineral waters by 5.3 per cent.
The alcohol tax increases that came into force at the beginning of the year coupled with sales restrictions and increased production costs have led to a significant rise in the price of beer. Private imports by travellers have also risen.
“Under these conditions, raising the alcohol tax would heighten inflation and further increase private imports by travellers. In its budgetary process, the government should hold off from new increases in alcohol taxation in order to prevent inflation,” says Timo Jaatinen, Managing Director of the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry.
Domestic sales January - June 2008
|
2008 mill.l |
2007 mill.l |
Change mill.l |
Change % |
| Beer |
203.4 |
212.6 |
-9.3 |
-4.4 |
| Cider |
19.1 |
20.3 |
-1.2 |
-5.7 |
| Long drinks |
17.1 |
16.1 |
1.0 |
6.3 |
| Soft drinks |
136.6 |
139.6 |
-3.0 |
-2.2 |
| Mineral water |
33.1 |
35.0 |
-1.9 |
-5.3 |
| Total sales |
409.4 |
423.7 |
-14.3 |
-3.4 |
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:
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.