The main focus this year is on the introduction of the deposit system in the country
March 19, Sofia. BGN 57 million capital investments in economic activities for 2023 were reported by the Union of Brewers in Bulgaria (UBB) at its annual general assembly. Of these, over 20 million are in long-term tangible assets for green innovations such as photovoltaic capacities, retrofitting of bio-anaerobic installations, purchase of hybrid cars, renovation of machines, refrigerated display cases, pouring installations and other devices with an optimal energy class.
In addition to the capital investments, social investments for the development of human resources, projects with a contribution to the community, environmental initiatives, campaigns for responsible consumption, together with informational and educational and preventive programs exceed BGN 5.5 million.
For the Brewers Union in 2024, sustainable implementation of environmentally responsible policies and practices continues. The main focus this year is on the introduction of the deposit system in the country. The processes of the implementation of this large-scale project are gaining more and more speed. In addition, all breweries continue to invest in new solutions related to bottle lightweighting, full recyclability of packaging materials, new can sizes, etc. Among packaging, glass bottles have a share of 21%, plastic bottles are 48%, cans - 26% and kegs - 5%. Visibly, the trend of decreasing the share of plastic bottles and increasing the share of cans continues.
"The working group of the Ministry of Environment and Water, of which together with other organizations the Union of Brewers is also a member, has already specified the most important parameters for the introduction of the future deposit system in the country", announced Ivana Radomirova - executive director of the UBB. She added that she has also started work on the legislation. According to her, the expectations are that this active approach and partnership interaction between the ministry and the responsible business associations will continue.
At the same time, the study of the logistical and functional structure of a deposit system for beverage packaging begins. The study will also outline the steps and timelines for its introduction. The overall ambitious goal is to adopt a legal framework for the deposit system by the end of this year
According to data from the Customs Agency, as of December 31 last year, 40 breweries were registered in our country. Of these, three are large companies, six are small and medium-sized breweries, and the remaining 31 are micro-enterprises. The members of the Union of Brewers produce 99% of the beer in Bulgaria and together have a market share of nearly 95%. For the reported annual period, there was a 3% decrease in beer sales compared to 2022. In 2023, a total of 507 million liters of beer were sold. This means that, on average, 1,390,000 liters of the sparkling drink are bought daily in the country. Seven new beers have been added to the main product portfolio of Union companies. Among them are the popular consumer styles IPA and stout.
In 2023, innovations continue to optimize water and energy costs in brewing. Production emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) have been reduced by 28-30% compared to the 2020s.
The beer industry in our country provides employment for nearly 25,000 people. Of these, 2100 or 9 percent are directly employed in the brewing industry and 9% - in the chain of production of agricultural raw materials. According to data from the National Social Insurance Institution as of September 2023, the average insurance income (AII) in the brewing industry is BGN 2,210, and according to this indicator, it is again in the top ten branches with the highest salaries.
At their annual meeting, the UBB recognized the serious contribution of Bulgarian scientists to the development of brewing science. In the last 2 years, 6 new studies and scientific tasks have been carried out. These include the development of a new microbiological method for the control of micro-organisms in beer, solutions to increase antioxidants and vitamins in beer, current research on B-vitamins in beer and review scientific reports on the functional effects of beer. The hundreds of international scientific studies on the effect of moderate beer consumption, as well as the strong development of non-alcohol and low-alcohol beer ranges, already clearly show that beer can be part of a balanced lifestyle.
