VLB Events: VLB Craft Brewing Conference Online Afterthought

 VLB EVENTS

VLB Craft Brewing Conference Online – Afterthought

After the successful launch of its series of virtual events last December, the VLB International Craft Brewing Conference Online (ICBO) was another step into the world of digitalization. The conference was attended by 210 craft brewing experts from 40 nations. The online event took place at the VLB Virtual Campus, an exclusive online platform for exchange of information, education and networking.

left: Live in the VLB studio: Kurt Marshall and Gayatri Mehta (both VLB Berlin) are talking about Berliner Weisse

right: "Add more hops!" Chris Bergthold (VLB) in discussion with John Paul Maye (Hopsteiner) (oh) With the 1st International Craft Brewing Conference, the VLB successfully continued its new series of virtual events at the end of April. The English program was addressed at craft brewers from all over the world. 23 lectures were offered, which were presented and discussed live in the course of three days. Access to the event platform was open for a total of 10 days, so that the participants could view all the presentations and the extensive additional content afterwards. The Opening Key Note was presented by Catherine Krol, research analyst at the market research company Euromonitor International. The focus of her presentation was on the development of craft beer in the Americas. The craft beer industry, which has recently been booming in many countries in North and South America, has suffered heavily from the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of the small, independent brewers are particularly dependent on the catering and event business (ontrade). Only the few larger ones have sales channels into the offtrade (e.g. retail, grocery, shops). Therefore, the corona-related significant slump in the on-trade business cannot be compensated for in many breweries.

ICBO Gold Sponsors:

Another development in the pandemic is an increasing reluctance among consumers in times of great uncertainty. According to Euromonitor, this particularly affects the expensive imported and premium lager beers. Mainstream brands and low-priced beers were much more robust here. Overall, the competitive pressure and price war in the craft beer industry has increased. According to the latest statistics from the US Brewers' Association (BA), the number of closed craft breweries has increased continuously. Nevertheless, there were also notable mergers and acquisitions. Some players took the opportunity to expand in this market segment. Despite all problems, Catherine Krol also sees some new opportunities for the craft brewing industry: • Sales in e-commerce have increased significantly: This development will continue even after the pandemic. This also created new sales channels for beer and beverages. The acceptance of additional offers such as online tastings, beer subscriptions, growler refills for home consumption has

Well deserved – the final beer in the closing session: Host Roberto Biurrun chatting with participants

also increased significantly. Additional business can be generated here. • Increased sales through retailers: This is a challenge, especially for small brewers, as the products have to be filled and packaged in accordance with the retail trade. The margins in retail are also lower. In return, however, there is the opportunity to stabilize the sales and to make themselves less dependent on gastronomy sales. • Sustainability is becoming

an increasingly important factor in purchasing deci-

sions: Craft brewers should use this consumer trend, which is becoming more and more significant especially for premium products, to position themselves accordingly, e.g. through carbon neutral beers, gender equality in production, taking care of the ethical and natural zeitgeist. “Develop a sustainable narrative for your business!” Catherine Krol recommended. • Non-alcoholic and low-al-

cohol beers / drinks are becoming increasingly popular:

A very interesting niche that offers additional market opportunities. Here, craft brewers can create new taste experiences with their products that would generate great consumer interest.

Brewing technology, filling and more…

Technological issues were discussed in the further course of the program. The raw materials session dealt with the various possible uses of hops and hop products and the use of special malts in the production of nonalcoholic beers. A craft malting system was presented in the technology session. In addition, the advantages of automation and various aspects and possibilities of fermentation were discussed. News about filling in cans and oneway kegs as well as a consideration of the logistics chain for beer were the topics of the filling session. Berliner Weisse, haze-stable beers and herbal beer production were the subjects of the 4th session. And finally, Rodolfo Rebelo (Malteria Blumenau), Berny Silberwasser (Alta Fermentación) and Martin Dickie (Brewdog) gave exciting insights into their activities and findings in the field of craft malting and brewing. The VLB Craft Brewers Conference was accompanied by a virtual trade exhibition in which numerous suppliers and media partners presented their products and services. In addition, there were opportunities for networking in text chat and in the video chat room throughout the course of the event. More than 200 participants commented very positively: “Great conference, awesome panel of speakers!”, “Great event!! Congratulations!!”, “Congratulations to this wellorganized event. Please offer such online events, also for the time after Covid-19!”, “I really enjoyed the time!”. In the closing session, event manager Roberto Biurrun was also very satisfied: “I'm looking forward to see you all on one of our next virtual events!”

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