Bitter one to swallow: Cost of beer production soars 62% in two years spelling ‘drinkflation’ ahead

The cost of the commodities required for the production, packaging and transportation of beer has risen by 62% in the past two years, according to the first ever Beer Index from social investing platform eToro.

The rate of price growth dramatically outpaces the close to 17.3% rise in the Romanian consumer price index (CPI) over the same period, indicating there is likely to be some price pain to come for beer drinkers as brewers look for ways to offset their costs.

eToro’s ‘Beer Index’ (simple weighted index) is based on current spot prices of a basket of six commodities needed for producing and selling beer – wheat, barley, rice, malt, aluminum (for cans) and fuel(for transportation and farming). Since August 20th 2020, the Beer Index has risen by 62%, with the war in Ukraine playing a significant role in the costs brewers are currently facing.

Bogdan Maioreanu, Market Analyst at eToro, said: “In Romania, the rise in the price of beer was lower than the overall increase in inflation. But our Beer Index tells us that stronger cost pressures are brewing and stiffer price rises could lie ahead. This could be unfortunate timing with the internal football championship on the way and the World Cup kicking off in November.”

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In Romania, according to the INS, the increase in beer prices was more moderate than the inflation. In July 2021 the price of beer rose by 2.54% compared with July 2020 and another 8.02% in July 2022 compared with the same month of 2021.

Fuel – required for farming the ingredients of beer as well as for the transportation of the product – has seen the biggest price rise of any item in the beer basket, with its cost jumping 138%, largely thanks to the war in Ukraine and the restricted supply of crude oil coming from Russia.

Barley and malt costs have also skyrocketed, rising 104% and 87% respectively in the same period, also largely thanks to disruption caused by the war, with Russia and Ukraine thought to supply as much as 30% of the world’s barley exports.

Rice is the only commodity in the Beer Index to have dropped in price in the past two years, falling by 1% since mid-August 2020. The stable price of the crop – which is used as adjunct in combination with barley malt to lighten beer – is thought to be down to supply outstripping demand every year since 2007, leading to large stockpiles.

Spot prices taken on the third Thursday of August each year. Equal-weighted across the six commodities.