Interesting Maps

Beer consumption in Europe

I'd be very surprised to find that Spaniards drink more beer than Brits?

A quick google tells me that around 12% of Spanish work in tourism and it accounts for around the same amount of GDP, so yeah, I'd say consumption is wildly influenced by north European beer drinkers.

Italy doesn't have hard drinking resorts in general.

I think it's mostly to do with resorts specifically built for sun holidays,like benidorm which previously was a small fishing village.

Spain's med coast had vast unpopulated stretches that could be easily developed. The pre budget airlines model was swedes, Dutch Germans, and other north Europeans piling the family into cars and vans heading for the Costas when the factories closed over the summer.

Greece wasn't as easy to drive to, especially in the cold war era and Italy already had mature domestic seasonal resorts like ostia for Romans.

All that beer being drunk by foreigners in Spain, will affect the figures in their home countries. If they did staycations, that would increase the figures for Germany and the rest.

This thread is not ChatGPT... 😀

Panama, and the Canal Zone.

Liechtenstein!

Harp was launched in 1960. It was Guiness's response to what they saw as a growing market for lager in the UK, but they opted to brew it in Dundalk to avoid spooking the GB-based brewers on whom they would rely for distribution — establishing a new brewery in GB for a brand new product would look too much like direct competition.

They launched it first of all in Ireland where they didn't expect huge demand, but they thought it would be a good test run for a GB launch. Greatly to their surprise it was insanely successful; Irish demand for the beer consumed the entire production of the Dundalk brewery and the GB launch had to be deferred while additional brewing capacity was built at Dundalk, and arrangements were made to brew under licence in GB.

The product launched in GB in, I think, 1961 and it was again very successful, rapidly becoming a significant player in a market segment that was itself growing fast.

The glory days lasted for about 20 years. In the 1960s and 70s Harp held a steady 20—25% of the GB lager market, and had an overwhelmingly dominant position in the Irish lager market, and sold well in export markets. (A dedicated Harp brewery was build in Nigeria in 1974.) But all good things come to an end; in the 80s consumers demanded greater variety, and EU membership meant excellent lagers from Germany and other European countries were available. Guinness made a commitment to diversification, brewing Kronenbourg and Budweiser under licence, and Harp gradually but steadily receded as the group's flagship lager brand.

Today Harp is the dominant lager brand in NI and in Dundalk, but only there. Harp consumers in other markets are mostly older men (and, in the US, older Irish men). In the Irish market Diageo mainly promotes Hop House 13 and Carlsberg (brewed under licence) and, in Africa, Tusker.