Italians' thirst for beer continues to grow and it now runs head-to-head with wine as the consumers' choice during meals outside the home, according to a report from the Italian brewers' association Assobirra.
Italians consumed 3.7% more beer last year, over 2006, for a record annual per capita consumption of 31.1 liters, which resulted in a 5% increase in production.
For Assobirra, there was even better news from the exports of Italian beer, which in 2007 soared 36.7% over the previous year.
This result, Assobirra claimed, demonstrated how the Italian beer industry was able to penetrate several 'evolved' foreign markets.
Assobirra said evidence of this was the fact that of the over one million hectoliters of Italian beer exported last year, 54% went to Britain, the United States and South Africa.
Another 15% was sent to markets in Malta, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands.
''The situation for Italian-made beer is overall very encouraging. Our country is now the ninth European producer of beer and the increase in exports confirms the quality of our product,'' Assobirra Chairman Piero Perron observed.
The fact that Italians were drinking more beer was also evident from by a 5.2% increase in beer import, for a total of 6.119 hectoliters.
In regard to the rivalry of beer and wine for meals outside the home, Assobirra observed that on weekdays they were on the same level as wine, each the preferred beverage for 14.2% of those eating out, while at the weekends beer last year reduced the gap between the two to 3.5 percentage points, compared to eight points in 2006.
In 2007, the percentage of people eating out who ordered wine was 43.6%, while those quaffing beer was 40.1%.
According to a study by Assobirra, Italians are also becoming more sophisticated about drinking beer with 20% choosing specific types of glass depending on the type of beers.
Looking at why Italians drank beer, Assobirra found that over 50 liked the taste and linked this to its natural, healthy ingredients.
In its report, Assobirra also focused on problems facing the sector, first among these the soaring costs not only for ingredients but also for packaging, which were drastically reducing profit margins.
Assobirra also pointed out that despite the increase in consumption in Italy last year, the country still lagged behind the rest of Europe, which has an average per capita annual consumption of 77.7 liters compared to Italy's 31.1 liters.
