In Germany, the World Cup is a success as fans cheering the national team drive beer sales to a record.
Revenue in June trumped sales generated in the same month in 2006, when Germany hosted the World Cup, Chief Executive Officer Roland Tobias said in a Bloomberg Television interview. Paulaner sold nine per cent more beer in June compared with eight years ago, the company said, declining to provide exact volumes.
“So far, the summer is really, really good for our business and we expect to continue,” Tobias told Bloomberg Television’s Guy Johnson. “If Germany wins, there will be an unbelievable party.”
Germany, which has won soccer’s biggest competition three times, trounced the host nation Brazil 7-1 in a semifinal in Belo Horizonte to secure a chance at lifting its first World Cup trophy since 1990. The rout ended a run of 63 competitive matches at home without a defeat for Brazil, going back to 1975. The victory “almost earns the designation historic,” Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Berlin today.
The five-hour time difference between Rio de Janeiro and Munich means that all the games are broadcast in the evening in Germany, which has helped increase sales, Tobias said.
“People go out because they want to have fun and have a party, even those who aren’t football fans,” he said. “That’s easier when the game’s in the evening.”
Paulaner, through investor Brau Holding International, is part-owned by the Schoerghuber Corporate Group and Heineken NV. It also owns the Hacker-Pschorr, Thurn & Taxis and Auerbraeu brands. Brau Holding’s 2,300 employees generated about 588 million euros ($800 million) of revenue last year.
Brau Holding sold 5.5 million hectoliters of beer last year, 1.2 per cent more than in 2012, according to its website. Paulaner, its biggest brand, increased revenue by 1.5 per cent to a record high, it said.
German chemical companies may also see a World Cup boon, said Karl-Ludwig Kley, the president of the VCI German chemical industry group and CEO of Merck KGaA, when asked at a press conference in Frankfurt today if the world cup has any measurable effect on chemical production.
While the effect on chemical production isn’t measurable, “there is an emotional effect, which prompts people to buy more so there is benefit to retail sales,” Kley said at the briefing.
The CEO pointed out that chemical ingredients are used to make clothing, soccer shoes and the official match ball, the Brazuca, produced by Adidas AG.
The polyurethane used to make the Brazuca balls is supplied by Bayer AG, which also owns Bayer 04 Leverkusen Football Club.
