E-Malt.com News article: Thailand: Beer supplies hit by devastating floods

Devastating floods swamping central Thailand have claimed more than 500 lives, caused billions of dollars in damage and are now hitting the tourism sector where it hurts most, in the beer belly, local distributors said on November, 7.

Retail outlets in Bangkok and other popular tourist destinations such as Phuket, are starting to suffer shortages of popular brews such as Singha and foreign brands such as Heineken and Tiger, it is reported.

The central provinces of Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani and Nonthaburi were among the hardest hit by floods caused by the Chao Phraya River bursting its banks last month, resulting in the worst floods in decades.

“Some of the big breweries had the misfortune of being located there,” said Daniel Schwalb, president of the Thai Alcohol Beverages Association. “That is a key area for beer production.”

Boonrawd Brewery, the producer of Singha beer, has at least one large plant in Pathum Thani province which has reportedly been closed down for the past month, a corporate spokesman confirmed.

The closure has caused shortages nationwide.

On Phuket island, 700 kilometres south of Bangkok, the shortage has reportedly led to price gouging of foreign tourists, keen to drink the national brew.

“We cannot control the price at which these people sell our beer,” Manop Hemhong, manager of Phuket Sivalee Company, said.

Leo Beer is produced by Bonnrawd's brewery in Khon Kaen, in the north-east. Although it was unaffected by the floods, deliveries have been slowed by flooding on roads to Bangkok and further south.

Thai Asia-Pacific Brewery, which makes Heineken and Tiger in Nonthaburi, has continued to operate but deliveries have been slowed down by water-logged logistics.

“Trips are taking twice as long, therefore you can't deliver as much or as frequently,” said Andrew Larnent, marketing manager for the company.

There are now worries that the floodwaters slowly moving toward the Gulf of Thailand will soon cut the Rama II highway, the main transport route to the southern peninsula.

“The sheer volume of traffic trying to get around on limited miles of roads is going to create congestion in itself,” Larnent said.

Distributors have also seen a change in drinking habits, triggered by the floods.

“There's a shift from on-premise drinking, in bars and restaurants, to people staying at their homes who are getting their drinks from the 7-11,” said Schwalb, who is the commercial director for Siam Winery, the largest importer and local producer of wines.

But the floods have not altered the level of demand.

“There is an old saying: in good times people drink; and in bad times people drink more,” Schwalb said.


08 November, 2011