Last year, Budějovický Budvar brewed a record 1.8 million hectolitres, a 4.6 percent increase over the previous year. Beer sales surpassed CZK 3 billion for the first time, amounting to CZK 3.17 billion. Year on year, exports increased by 11.3 percent. However, due to the COVID, Budvar’s sales in the Czech Republic fell by four percent year-on-year.
“While we grew by 4.6 percent in volume, we grew by a significant 10.4 percent in beer sales compared to 2020. We are continuing our strategy of focusing primarily on the quality and value of our portfolio, “said brewery director Petr Dvořák. The second year of the pandemic crisis was also successful for the national company. The exhibition surpassed the previous year, also a record year.
Exports rose by 11.3 percent year on year. Budvar did well in all major markets, with sales up in ten major markets. The majority of these results were driven by the brewery’s markets: Germany, Slovakia, and England.
As in the previous year, the national brewery faced a pandemic crisis that mainly affected the domestic market. Due to the closure of restaurants and gastro outlets, sales of cask and tank beer fell. The brewer lost four percent of sales year on year in the domestic market. After the audit, Budvar will publish full economic results, including sales and profit, by the end of the first half of this year.
In 2020, Budvar brewed 1.73 million hectolitres of beer with 670 employees. According to the annual report, profit after tax increased nearly 10% yearly to CZK 305 million.