- We close the year with a new record of active breweries (117) and litres produced (5 million litres).
- The market share has reached 2% of the total volume of the beer industry.
For the fourth year running, the Guild of Natural and Craft Beer Brewers (GECAN), that brings together small-scale beer producers in Catalonia, and the Barcelona Beer Festival (BBF) join forces to give an overview of the region’s production sector. This technical report compiles data about production, location, turnover, creation of employment, products and several other aspects.
The high participation of breweries (91% answered the survey) means that the data obtained is very valuable and the conclusions extracted true to the reality of this active and growing sector that is creating a lot of energy across the region.
One of the first pieces of information we obtained is that eight new craft beer projects began in 2019, a figure of growth that reinforces the idea that this is an expanding sector attracting new entrepreneurs to invest both passion and resources.
The overall total of litres produced exceeds 5 million litres for the first time, a number which suggests 5% growth on the previous year. This level of production situates the market share of craft beer at 2% with regards to all of the economic activity generated by beer.
The high participation of breweries (91% answered the survey) means that the data obtained is very valuable and the conclusions extracted true to the reality of this active and growing sector that is creating a lot of energy across the region.
One of the first pieces of information we obtained is that eight new craft beer projects began in 2019, a figure of growth that reinforces the idea that this is an expanding sector attracting new entrepreneurs to invest both passion and resources.
Furthermore, an increase in the use of local raw materials has been shown this year, with 17 breweries making beer with local malt and 26 breweries using Spanish hops. This shows a clear expansion of the value chain of small local producers, linking to the territory even more.
29 new jobs were created in 2019 – an 8% increase – to make a total of 367 direct jobs in production, not forgetting all of the jobs related to the field, distribution and final sales points, which must also be added to this figure. What’s more, beer tourism continues to grow year on year and more than 50,000 people attended activities organised by breweries in the region.
This 2019 technical analysis is a snapshot of what the sector looked like on the verge of this year that health reasons have shaken up so much. Nevertheless, the 2020 report will be what gives us a proper gauge of the impact of COVID-19, which we have brought forwards in part with a study of the first impacts published in June 2020.
You can download a summary of the 2019 State of Craft Beer in Catalonia technical report here.
P.s. You can also view the 2016, 2017 and 2018 reports if you like