Beer drinkers tricked by a ‘magician’s choice’ at the bar
Independent brewers are voicing concerns over the dominance of global brewers, according to the Independent Brewers of Europe (IBE). Jessica Mason finds out more.
In a recent interview with the drinks business, IBE chairman and SIBA head of policy and public affairs Barry Watts discussed the findings of the IBE’s recent report on the industry which had taken insight from data from more than 3,000 breweries across 12 European countries and illustrated the significant pressure brewers were currently facing.
Mass produced masquerading as indie
Speaking to db, Watts said: “Beer drinkers are increasingly facing a magician’s choice at the bar – where what looks like a range of local beers is in fact mass produced by the same global company. Independent breweries across Europe have responded with positive campaigns to inform beer drinkers how to spot a real indie beer. In recent years we’ve seen the likes of the Marchio Indipendente Artigianale in Italy, the Austrian 100% unabhängig campaign and the Indie Beer logo in the UK to help drinkers distinguish between a real independent beer and a global one.”
Further uncertainty
Hinting at the challenges that the independent beer sector has faced, Watts told db: “It feels that everywhere we look there’s a new challenge forming. Independent breweries across Europe are still only recovering from the Covid pandemic and now face further uncertainly from international events.”
Indeed, looking at the data, 43% of independent brewers in Europe say their main priority in 2026 is survival, with energy prices and the dominance of the global brewers their top two challenges, while 30% of independent brewers in Europe expect their turnover to fall in the current year, and a further 20% expect it to just stay the same.
Watts admitted to db that “survival” and continuing to exist amid such uncertainty is the core concern and revealed that the sector knows that “when these threats emerge prices jump like a rocket but rarely fall quickly so it’s no wonder that survival is the top priority for independent brewers”.
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Using advantages
But, he highlighted that agility is key and pointed out that “despite this, the advantage that independent breweries have is that they can adapt and innovate quickly and are embedded within their local communities”.
With this in mind, Watts outlined how “more breweries are diversifying their routes to market and widening the products that they make to help them navigate the storms”.
One such way that indie breweries have started navigating the headwinds has been to lean in to no and low alcohol options and really give people what they want.
Within its recent report, the IBE highlighted how brewers needed to “adapt or face” and highlighted how “non-alcoholic beer makes up a growing proportion of independent brewer’s production in Europe, with 8% of brewers saying non-alcoholic beer was now in their top three most produced styles.”
Range is everything
Describing how the moderation trend has broadened the beer sector, Watts explained to db: that “the growth of consumer interest in no and low products has created an opportunity for Europe’s independent breweries to develop new and innovative beers. This is now making up an increasingly significant part of their range of styles. In recent years we’ve even seen breweries emerge that only produce non-alcoholic beers pushing at the frontiers of new and exciting flavours”.
But, Watts observed, how even though fads come and go, a core offering remains important too and added: “While consumer tastes and trends will change, and independent breweries will respond to these, there will always be a place for their flagship and popular original beers.”
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