Largest beer producers in Russia increase sowing of malting barley crops 6% in 2024

MOSCOW. May 6 (Interfax) - The largest member companies in the Association of Beer, Malt and Beverage Producers (APP), together with partner farmers, increased the sowing area for malting barley 6% this year to 240,700 hectares, a press release from the APP said.

Farms in over 20 regions of Russia grow malting barley for APP members, predominantly in Altai, Voronezh, Tula and Moscow regions.

"Thanks to our partnership with farmers, it is possible to control the high quality of raw materials, minimize the risks of increasing their cost and reducing supplies in the current conditions, as well as support hundreds of local farms and provide them with best practices. Thanks to the development of proprietary agricultural programs, members of the APP grow more than half of the malting barley in the country and they almost completely provide themselves with these raw materials," Vyacheslav Mamontov, executive director of the APP, said.

The industry is currently not experiencing a shortage of malting barley seeds, the report said. However, it may arise in the future. This is due to restrictions on the import of seeds for certain crops, including barley, from unfriendly countries. To mitigate these risks, some APP members have already begun organizing the production of super-elite seeds and working with breeders, which in the future may allow for the creation of new varieties of barley in Russia, the press release said.

"At the same time, brewers continue to almost completely depend on imported hops; about 5% of the volume required by the industry is produced in Russia. FRI (The Financial Research Institute of the Russian Finance Ministry) and the APP developed and presented proposals for the development of hop growing in 2023, which include a significant expansion of the geography of hop cultivation in Russia, an increase in the area of hop fields, the provision of seedlings to farms, as well as an increase in the amount of financial support for farmers. It is also proposed to develop the process of hop processing: organize the production of machines and equipment for its cultivation, harvesting and subsequent modern processing," the press release said.

The Association of Beer, Malt and Beverage Producers unites the largest producers of brewing products - AB InBev Efes, Baltika and United Breweries (OPH LLC).