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(Gone, Baby, Gone)
A perfect storm of circumstances have led to a major beer bottle shortage in Germany. The war in Ukraine has impacted glass production, but so has inflation and rising energy costs.
And unlike in the US where the majority of beers are largely available in cans, which are lighter than cans and therefore more cost effective to ship, German brewers are more heavily invested in bottled beer.
When you picture a German beer we bet that you’re seeing it in a green or brown bottle.
In a statement sent to the Business Insider, general manager of the German Brewers’ Association, Holger Eichele, said the shortages were “indirectly related” to the conflict in Ukraine.
“It is a fact that unfortunately several glass factories in Ukraine have been destroyed by Russian attacks or had to close down and therefore can no longer deliver to Western Europe. This has increased the overall demand for glass products and glass containers in Germany as well,” the statement added.
Russian blockades of Ukrainian ports have also limited exports out of the war-ravaged country, creating not only a beer bottle shortage but also a possible global food crisis.
Eichele also cited reduced activity at factories as a result of rising energy costs as a reason for the shortages, which was also pushing up the price of glass bottles. “Breweries without supply contracts are paying 80% – 90% more for new bottles than they did last year,” Eichele added.
To counter this impending “Beer Armageddon” breweries are tapping into Germany’s existing deposit system to encourage more people to return their empties. As things stand now Germans can pay a deposit of either 8 or 15 euro cents (around $0.08 – $0.15) for a returnable glass bottle, which they can later get back sometimes in the form of a store voucher.
Some German breweries are upping the rebate to persuade more people to return their empties, according to the New York Times who first reported this story. “While other have been forced to increase the price of a crate of beer.”
Unfortunately most poeple who return their used bottles for the deposit, make that return when the have a full case of empties. So while returning the empty bottles is helping German breweries desperate for them…it’s far from the answer.
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