India: Andhra Pradesh hit with beer shortage amid peaking summer

There is shortage of beer when summer is peaking, a time when youngsters prefer this alcoholic beverage to beat the heat, which has gone up in Andhra Pradesh during the last few days. This has also led to a drop in revenue to the state exchequer, the Deccan Chronicle reported on May 17.

The main reason being attributed to shortage of beer is lack of supply from United Breweries Group, which brews the Kingfisher brand. Beer production has been badly hit after workers at its brewery went on strike from April 1. Thus, this brand of beer is not available with AP State Beverages Corporation Limited, which supplies the beer through government’s retail liquor outlets.

AP monthly consumes 10–12 lakh cases of beer of all brands, with Kingfisher holding the major share. This means nearly 40,000 cases get consumed every day. However, at present, only 30,000 cases of beer are available.

A look at government records on beer sales shows that in April 2023, 10,59,391 cases of beer had been consumed, the sale value being 248.04 crore. In April 2022, nearly 13,03,716 cases of beer worth 280.17 crore had been consumed.

About 5,56,573 beer cases had been consumed from May 1 to May 16 in 2023, against 6,42,142 cases downed in the corresponding period last year, indicating that consumption of beer has come down in AP compared to last year.

AP State Beverages Corporation Limited authorities maintain that short supply of beer since April in the current year is one of the reasons for drop in beer consumption in the state. Further, they say, temperatures had been higher last year compared to the current year. Thus, more beer got consumed last year compared to this year.

APSBCL managing director D. Vasu Deva Reddy said, "As beer production has resumed at United Breweries with resolving of their internal issue, we are expecting more supply of beer in the state. Beer sales will go up," he stated.

19 May, 2023