Upcoming World Cup, good weather boost German beer sales in May

BERLIN - Sunny weather and the looming FIFA World Cup in Russia have provided a welcome boost to beer sales in Germany in May, German media reported on Monday.

Franz-Josef Weihrauch, spokesperson for the Krombacher brewery, told the German press agency that the brewery experienced the "best month in our history" in May. According to the spokesperson, Krombacher sold a record volume of 650,000 hectoliters of beer during the past month.

Similarly, rival brewery Veltins witnessed a surge in sales to 315,000 hectoliters in May, marking an increase of 10 percent compared to the same period last year.

Holger Eichele, president of the German Brewer's Association, attributed the rise in demand to a combination of recent good weather and a rush by gastronomical enterprises to stock the alcoholic beverage ahead of the World Cup.

Eichele said some breweries were currently running special additional shifts "in order to deliver enough drinks." Eichele further highlighted that the trend was likely to last throughout June.

He predicted that "especially while the World Cup is ongoing", numerous of public viewings, street parties and grill parties were likely to occur which would be "hard to imagine without a cold beer" as long as the weather played along.

Figures published by the Federal Statistical Office show that beer sales rose slightly in Germany during the first four months of the year by 0.7 percent to 28 million hectoliters.

Marlene Mortler, the government's official drugs commissioner, recently expressed concerns about the health implications of heavy drinking in Germany and announced that Berlin would look into the possibility of establishing a minimum price for alcohol as a means to lower consumption.