Carlsberg CEO says inflation could hit beer sales in 2023

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Danish brewer Carlsberg has seen little evidence of rising inflation hitting beer sales, but that could change going into 2023 as brewers continue to raise prices, Chief Executive Cees ‘t Hart said on Thursday.

“So far we have seen very little evidence of any consumer impact of rising inflation,” Hart said on a conference call following a quarterly trading statement published on Wednesday.

“But as inflation continues to increase and brewers raise prices again in the second half of this year and beginning of 2023, we see a bigger risk ahead of downtrading and lower volumes,” he said.

Anheuser-Busch InBev and Carlsberg, the world’s largest and third-largest brewers, respectively, have raised full-year profit outlook this week.

(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Mike Harrison)