Wholesale beverage industry

According to the Hans Böckler Foundation, the beverage industry is the third largest sector of the food and luxury food industry, accounting for around eight percent of sales. At its core, it comprises around 800 breweries (with more than 1,400 brewing sites) and more than 300 producers of non-alcoholic soft drinks and waters. The specialised wholesale beverage trade acts as a distributor of beverages to the retail trade (food retail trade and gastronomy). The beverage market in Germany is a very heterogeneous market and is divided into many local and regional sub-markets. The retail trade is the predominant sales channel for beverages. For example, the retail share of beer sales has risen to around 80 percent in recent years. The Bundesverband des Deutschen Getränkefachgroßhandels e. V. (Federal Association of German Beverage Wholesalers) counted 3,563 specialised beverage wholesalers with an annual turnover of almost 22 billion euros in 2017. Ideally, consumers return deposit bottles to their retailer who returns them to the manufacturer. There the bottles are checked, cleaned and refilled. It can be noticed that the number of disposable PET bottles used for soft drinks is constantly increasing.

Increasing automation and Industry 4.0 do not stop at the beverage industry. In addition, beverage consumption has been changing for some years now. While beer consumption has been declining for years (currently approx. 106 litres per capita and year), water consumption has recently increased significantly (approx. 149 litres per capita and year). The beverage market is under great pressure to reduce costs and prices due to changing consumer behaviour and the strong position of food retailers (discounters). The beer market as well as the non-alcoholic beverage market is divided into many local and regional sub-markets. Extensive consolidation is not expected in the coming years, which could lead to a sharp decline in the number of competitors. The other development that has been observed in recent years is that beverage producers were bought out by the food retail trade. The Schwarz Group (Lidl, Kaufland), which took over the mineral water company MEG in 2008, is a classic example of this development. Selling beverages online could also be a growing sales channel for discounters in the future. However, the range of products offered online is usually limited and deliveries are often made in large cities and metropolitan areas only since logistics costs are high. Strong seasonal fluctuations in sales figures are characteristic of the beverage industry.