AB InBev reports 30% volume growth in H1

Bengaluru: Brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) has reported a 30 per cent increase in sales with gains in some markets in the first half of 2023 and expects the momentum to continue in the second half, its President – India & Southeast Asia Kartikeya Sharma said.

The company, which is a leading player in the premium and super premium beer segment with brands like Budweiser, Hoegaarden and Corona, has reported 200-300 basis points upside in growth in large markets such as Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and West Bengal, he said. “The beer industry grew 20 per cent from January to June 2023... We grew ahead of the industry by almost 50 per cent. So our growth was closer to 30 per cent,” said Sharma in a media roundtable here. However, there are some challenges from the urban market, which is witnessing some tapering off in the demand at urban centres but Sharma is confident in maintaining the growth rate. “The challenge is for us to see how in H2 we are going to sustain and expand the share gains but in H1, we were been very satisfied with the numbers,” said Sharma. In its top 10 focus markets, AB InBev sees the gap between them and the market leader coming down to two to three percentage points. “In a lot of our focus markets, we actually see the gap close to the market leader and in some cases, we have become a market leader,” he added. Over the consumption trends, post Covid there was an extension in the peak in the premium segment, but in the last two months the urban centres bucking the trend, where the peak is fading away.