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19 February 2021

Minsiter Clarinval visited our Brewery

Minsiter Clarinval op bezoek bij brouwerij Huyghe

2020 was also a disastrous year for the Huyghe brewery, with an 18% loss in turnover compared to 2019 due to the long-term closure of the restaurant business and the decline in exports. And Brexit adds more. During a visit by the Federal Minister for the Independents David Clarinval (MR), CEO Alain De Laet pleaded for a rapid reopening of the restaurants and bars and a digital simplification of exports to the United Kingdom.

Huyghe Brewery

Over the past ten years, the brewer of the famous beer Delirium Tremens (the pink elephant) has quadrupled its production and Delirium Tremens has been exported to around 100 countries. This export represents 80% of Huyghe's turnover, but the machine stopped in 2020. “A turnover of 37.5 million euros represents a decrease of 18% compared to 2019. It’s the first time in 20 years that our turnover has decreased due to the long restaurant and bar closures in our country and abroad. There was an increase in sales in supermarkets by 15%, but that obviously does not compensate for the loss of volume in on-trade, ”explains CEO Alain De Laet. “We are fortunate to be in good financial health and to have a reserve. If this had happened before, we would have been bankrupt, ”De Laet said.

Fast reopening of the restaurant and bar scene.

“We are pleading for a rapid reopening of the restaurants and bars because the entire sector risks being drawn into this disaster. The closure was necessary to fend off the pandemic, but now it looks like we are being sacrificed. It has been proven over and over that the big waves of contamination not come from this sector. In addition, our Belgian beer culture, a cultural heritage protected by Unesco, risks being lost forever. Belgian beer is a label that opens doors. And we are calling on consumers to consume as much Belgian beer as possible and help restore the restaurant and Bar sector, ”explains Alain De Laet.

Brexit increases costs

As if the corona crisis wasn't causing enough misery, a Brexit was added at the end of January. Minister David Clarinval (MR), responsible for the independents and SMEs, today visited several Flemish companies. “The UK is our 4th largest market, accounting for 5% of our turnover. But Brexit will increase transport costs by 30-40% and every order to England brings a lot of paperwork with new rules and certificates, ”says De Laet.

 

Dit artikel verscheen in: https://www.hln.be/melle/coronacrisis-kost-brouwerij-huyghe-18-van-haar…

En is door Didier Verbaere geschreven.