2014 Czech beer exports to China ‘nearly doubled’

Exports of Czech beer to China reached 22,688 hectolitres in 2014, nearly doubling from 12,688 hectolitres the previous year, the head of the Czech Beer and Malt Association has confirmed.

Various brands of Czech beer (Photo: Wiki)

Despite the dramatic-sounding increase in exports, China only takes up 0.65% of market share but a number of Czech breweries are investing in the Chinese market, reported Vladimír Balach of the Czech Beer and Malt Association to the Czech News Agency.

The fifth-largest brewery, Lobkowicz has recently sold 79% of its stakes to China-based energy and financial services group CEFC. CEFC President, Chauto said that with the investment his firm had the ambition to significantly increase the import of Czech beer to China.

China’s domestic beer is still the most widely consumed – regardless of its drop in production figures – but demand for premium export beer brands has been rapidly increasing over the past years, driven mainly by China’s expanding middle class and increase in disposable income.

The south Bohemian brewer Budějovický Budvar currently exports to nine East Asian countries, including China, Japan, Mongolia and Vietnam. According to Budvar’s spokesman Petr Samec, the brewery has increased sales on East Asian markets by 47% year-on-year and is planning to expand even further in the near future.

The world-famous brewer Plzeňský Prazdroj has renewed export to China this summer. According to their spokesman, Vladimír Jurina the company expects to export several thousand hl of Pilsner Urquell to China by the end of the year.

The Asia beer market is set to grow to $202bn by 2020, according to APAC Market’s latest report.