While the beer drinking trend has always been prevalent in the society, the number of beer drinkers seems to have increased with the increasing number of beer brands that have flooded the market, noted Kunal Lama, proprietor of Café Mitra.
“Beer is one of those drinks that’s easily accessible and not expensive,” said Lama who has been in the restaurant business since 1995.
Access and affordability is what has driven the market. And especially during the World Cup, the phenomenon took a rise—the sale and consumption of beer saw a drastic boost. The sales figure from restaurants and convenient stores are a testament.
At Attic, one of the crowded venues during the football season, the place was packed and over capacity, said Raymon Das Shrestha, one of the owners of the one-year-old restaurant. And according to him, “business was good” – and so was the beer sale.
“Since it is summer, people prefer chilled drinks to liquors,” Shrestha said of the beer consumption, which at Attic, was high. On a good night, the restaurant sold 10 cases of other beer stands apart from Heineken, which the restaurant had a deal with.
While the World Cup was a festive season for restaurants, the convenient stores, too, had their share of business, especially beer business.
The 24-hour store at Annapurna Arcade in Durbar Marg also had an increment in its beer sale. Especially during the World Cup night games, the store sold five cases of Carlsberg and Tuborg each and a case of can beers, said Agni Bhattarai, general manager of the store, which comparatively does not happen on regular nights.
Ramesh Shrestha, member of the Nepal Beverage Association, said consumption pattern and market trend has molded with globalization and Western influence—one of the major reasons for a swell in beer culture, especially among the youth.
“The beer market in Nepal on average is seven million cases,” Shrestha gave an estimate.
Shrestha, who was president of the Association in 2000, said there was a market for six million cases. He also pointed that since the early phase, the key market players have been Carlsberg, Tuborg and San Miguel.
And the locals also prefer these brands that have a significant market share in Nepal’s beer industry.
During the World Cup, Gorkha Brewery, the manufacturers of Carlsberg, Tuborg and San Miguel, faced a demand that was higher than its supply.
Narendra Shrestha, regional commercial manager of Gorkha Brewery, said the company “couldn’t meet the supply” because of the huge demand. Though Gorkha Brewery had a significant rise on its beer sale, the company didn’t provide a figure.
But it wasn’t only popular brands like Carlsberg and San Miguel that soared the sales chart; other local brands like Everest Beer also saw a significant rise.
Manoj Dhungel, national sales manager of Everest Brewery, said the company saw a rise of 5 to 7% increase in the beer sale during the World Cup season. However, he pointed that it couldn’t just be the World Cup but the new budget
too. Storeowners usually keep a stock of beverages before the new fiscal year in speculations of increase in tariff.
But even after the game has ended and the game watching parties ended, weekends are still reserved for drinking, and at bars, beer is still ordered in large quantities. And as alcohol has become more accessible to the younger crowd and the party culture has been a trend among the youth, the charm of drinking, and that too an economical drink, has only found fascination.
“Beer, you know, is exactly what you’re getting. It’s what you see, what you pay for, and what you get,” said Lama of one of the popular beverages preferred by young and old.
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