E-Malt.com News article: Poland: Euro 2012 soccer championships to boost beer consumption

Restaurant owners in Poland are counting on the upcoming Euro 2012 soccer championships to boost beer consumption, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reported on January, 25.

By 2012, 1,000 new establishments serving beer will have cropped up, while additional restaurant breweries will also open their doors, it is expected.

According to estimates made by Grupa Żywiec, around 10,000 pubs are currently in operation in Poland. The market is not yet saturated, said Sebastian Tołwiński, Grupa Żywiec spokesperson, adding that the group plans to open 150 Warka beer pubs by June of next year to serve the thousands of soccer fans who will descend on Poland.

According to data from PL.2012, some one million people will visit Poland during the championships. Many business owners want to pursue the opportunity not only to serve beer drinkers from abroad, but also to build a pub culture among Poles.

Currently, only about 15 percent of beer is consumed in pubs, with the remainder being imbibed in peoples' homes, according to Danuta Gut, head of the Union of Brewing Industry Employers in Poland. The proportions are completely reversed in Germany and the Czech Republic, where drinkers enjoy 70 percent of all the beer they consume in restaurants and pubs.

In Poznań, one of the host cities, 40 permits for the sale of alcohol were issued by mid-January.



26 January, 2011