In 2017, members of the Union of Brewers in Bulgaria (UBB) have made a total of 5,130,000 hectoliters of beer, with 50,820 hectoliters less than 2016th, the association said.

The positive trend of decreasing the share of beer sales in PET bottles, which dropped to 56%, continues. The proportion of glass packaging is 23 per cent, the cans - 15 per cent and the kegs - 6 per cent. Last year, brewing companies have expanded their assortment of 14 new beer brands to which more than 25 new packages and dozens of labels have to be added.

41 100 000 BGN are the capital investments of the members of the Union of Brewers in Bulgaria for 2017. They are invested in renovation of the production base with new breweries, fermentation and pasteurization, with highly automated bottling lines for PET and glass, as well as in the modernization and construction of raw material storage facilities, logistics centers and bio-anaerobic wastewater treatment plants.

The results of the industry as well as the overall picture of the organization's activities for the past year were presented at the annual general meeting of the organization held in the beginning of the month. The UBBs report sustainable development of the branch with high values ​​of the tangible assets of the members of the association, expansion of the product portfolio and innovation for the overall business development.

Since the start of the privatization process of the brewing industry in the country in 1994, over 1 billion and 240 million leva have been invested in the sector, the organization said. Figures from recent years show that one of the highest levels in 30 years has been achieved by the key growth indicators of the category such as production, sales, beer consumption per capita. This gives indications that the market is becoming more saturated and the forecasts for 2018 have to be moderate, "said Ivana Radomirova, Executive Director of UBB.

However, it is clear that the competition between individual players in the beer market in the country will become even stronger.