New Independent Brewers of Europe group launches
A new pan-European group of trade associations and representatives have joined forces to promote independent brewing.
The Independent Brewers of Europe (IBE) aims to campaign against injustices in the beer market and to defend the diversity of independent beer to ensure that beer drinkers can continue to enjoy access to genuine local beers in the future.
The new group consists of national associations of independent breweries from ten European countries – Germany, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. More information can be found on the IBE website – https://www.independent-brewers.com/
One of the founding members of the new group is the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA) in the UK. “Many of the challenges we face in the UK are shared amongst our friends in Europe and so it makes sense for us to work more closely together to exchange information and tackle them,” says Andy Slee, SIBA’s Chief Executive. “As in the UK, beer across Europe is dominated by a handful of Global companies and we need to ensure that independent breweries can survive and there is a great range of beers available which celebrates our diversity.”
Earlier in the year the members came together in Vienna to discuss the issues facing the independent beer sector and ways to work together. This was hosted by the Independent Breweries of Austria which formed three years ago as a strong advocate to preserve Austrian beer culture.
“We want to cooperate across borders,” says Hubert Stöhr, the Chair of Independent Breweries of Austria, describing the idea behind the founding of the group: “We have a major goal in common. We want to protect indigenous beer culture in all its diversity and facilitate its further development.”
The Independent Brewers of Europe plans to encourage regular dialogue across borders to identify challenges and share information and intends to next meet at BrauBeviale in Nuremberg in November.
The ten members consist of:
- Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA) , UK
- Syndicat National des Brasseries Indépendantes (SNBI), France
- Craftbrouwers, Netherlands
- Private Brauereien, Germany
- Pienmanimoliitto, Finland
- Die freien Schweizer Brauereien, Switzerland
- Unabhängige Privatbrauereien Österreichs, Austria
- Unionbirrai, Italy
- Czech-Moravian Association of Microbreweries, Czech Republic
- Polish Craft Brewers Association, Poland
