the beer market | France

1.1 Market definition

Beer is mainly produced from barley malt with sometimes other cereals as a supplement. It is one of the most popular alcoholic beverages in the world .

Beer can be consumed in bottles, cans or through kegs. It can be blonde, white, redheaded, or brunette. The colour of the beer is a consequence of the choice of malt as well as the temperature of the malt kilning:

• White beers:  brewing with wheat and pale malts.

• Blond beers: brewing with pale barley malts.

• Red beers or amber: brewing with more roasted barley malts.

• Dark beers: brewing with extremely roasted brown malts.

The world beer market is dominated by some major international players (AbinBev, Heineken, CR Snow). The rest of the market is composed of a very large number of independent local actors .

The French market, in slight increase (5% between 2010 and 2018) and with growing forecasts, does not escape this trend. The dynamism of local actors is reflected in particular in the continuous opening of very small breweries .

Yet the annual production is decreasing between 2013 and 2018 and, although its consumption is still very marginal, non-alcoholic beer is growing strongly and represents a very dynamic segment of the market