Diageo – 20th for global beer output

Even with its beer output down 6%, the Belgian ABInBev group remains the world's largest brewer, with Dutch brewer Heineken taking the Number 2 spot and Denmark's Carlsberg the third.

 

Heineken’s output was also down in 2020 by 8% and Carlsberg’s by 2%.

The ranking comes from BarthHaas, one of the world’s leading suppliers of hop products and hop-related services, which has released its Hops report for 2020. This ranks the world’s top 40 brewers according to output.

Diageo lies in 20th position with a 20% drop in its beer output between 2019 and 2020, according to BarthHaas.

Last year saw considerable movement within the rankings of the world’s 40 biggest brewing groups according to how severely the brewers’ respective markets were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, states the German supplier.

“The Carlsberg Group, for example, edged past China’s CRB to take third place while the French BGI/Groupe Castel advanced into eighth place, knocking China’s Yanjing into 10th place,” states BarthHass, “Germany’s Veltins group was a new entrant, ousting China’s Gold Star from the table.

“Carlsberg was active on the takeover front, acquiring both Wernesgruner from Bitburger Group (on January 1st 2021) and Marston’s.”

ABI bowed out of Australia and sold Carlton & United Breweries, which it had acquired through the SABMiller takeover, to Asahi of Japan, it reports.

“ABI also acquired a majority stakeholding in the American Craft Beer Alliance.

“India once again proved to be a difficult market for foreign-owned companies: both MolsonCoors and Mahou-San Miguel sold their Indian subsidiaries to local investors.”