Heineken UK sales volumes fall as price of pint rises

Heineken has said higher prices led to lower volumes of beer being sold to customers (David Lindsay/PA) (PA Media)

Heineken sold less beer in the UK in the third quarter of the year, as the price of a pint rose by nearly 10% and the wet summer discouraged drinkers.

The brewing giant, which also owns Birra Moretti and Desperados, said it pushed prices up by a “high single digit” percentage in Britain, which made up for a fall in sales volumes.

CEO and chair Dolf van den Brink said “adverse weather in July and August” played a role in the lower sales volume. He added that Heineken had been gaining market  share in pubs, but that there was “more to do” in off-sales.

Globally, Heineken sold 6.32 billion litres of beer, a fall of 4.2% but still enough to give every adult in the world two pints. Non-alcoholic beer Heineken 0.0 was a success though, with volume rising by 3.5%.

However, prices rose by 9.5%, meaning revenue ticked up. Profit fell by 13% to €1.9 billion (£1.7 billion). That figure included a €300 million loss from the brewer’s exit from Russia in August, 18 months after the invasion of Ukraine began.

Van den Brink said: “Whilst inflation-led pricing is tapering, we observe a slowdown of consumer demand in various markets facing challenging macreconomic conditions.

“In this context, we will stay the course on executing our strategy, remain vigilant on costs and focus on rebalancing our growth.”

The shares rose by 1.8% to €85.92 in Amsterdam, valuing the business at €48.86 billion. However, they are still down slightly for the year.