What Are the Reasons Behind the Economic Performance of the Hungarian Beer Industry? The Case of the Hungarian Microbreweries

In terms of absolute alcohol consumption and total quantity consumed, beer is the most consumed alcoholic beverage in Hungary. The Hungarian beer industry is highly concentrated, the three largest, foreign-owned companies ruled the market for almost 90% of total turnover in 2009–2017. The study investigates the factors influencing the Hungarian beer industry’s economic performance, special attention given to the microbreweries. The analysis applied panel-data linear models for the period of 2009–2017. The financial performance of breweries is represented by companies’ turnover, Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) and profit along with explanatory variables of the age of brewery, Social Media activity, geographical location, direct sales, and impact of tax reduction. Breweries with direct sales channels reached significantly higher sales, EBIT and profit. Breweries situated in or close to the capital are the most profitable due to the higher demand for high-quality beer, in contrast, the distance from the capital had a negative impact on the firms’ performance. The Social Media activity–often used as the only promotion channel for the microbrewery–positively impacts the brewery’s profitability. Finally, tax reduction for small breweries introduced in 2012 had the most significant positive influence on the industry.