POLAND – Danish multinational brewer, Carlsberg, has said production in three breweries in Poland will continue as usual after the Polish government voiced support for measures that would address the lack of carbon dioxide used in beer production.
The brewer had earlier stated its subsidiary in Poland could cut or halt beer production due to the impending crisis that is becoming a problem for the food industry in the country.
“If deliveries of carbon dioxide (CO2) are not resumed, there will be a high probability of significant production cut or production halt,” a spokeswoman for Carlsberg Polska Beata Ptaszyńska-Jedynak said.
She explained that the beer industry uses carbon dioxide to keep oxygen out of beer, but that the lack of CO2 was hitting many other parts of the food industry which also uses it for refrigeration.
Carlsberg, which has three breweries in the country, is among Poland’s biggest brewers with a market share of around 20%, according to its annual report.
The looming shortage of CO2 has been a result of chemical makers especially fertilizer manufacturers, who produce CO2 as a byproduct, either temporarily shutting down operations such as CF Fertilizers in the UK or even closing down completely due to high natural gas prices.
Poland’s biggest chemicals firm Grupa Azoty has cut down production of some products due to soaring gas prices while PKN Orlen’s chemicals, a subsidiary of Anwil, has introduced temporary production halts.
Andrzej Gantner, general secretary of the Polish Federation of Food Industry commented that the CO2 delivery halt also poses a danger to the food security of the whole nation.
He added the halted deliveries of CO2, dry ice, and nitric acid influence not only the beverage industry, but also the majority of key food production industries in Poland, among them ones as crucial as meat, dairy, processed fruits, and vegetables.
Addressing the food and beverage industries about the situation, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that the government was working on a package of support for energy-intensive companies to mitigate the effect of soaring energy prices on its industry.
Later on, the Copenhagen-based giant’s spokesman noted that Carlsberg is “confident” that the government’s support measures would help secure CO2 supplies, thereby avoiding any production cuts at its breweries.
At the same time, Heineken’s Polish subsidiary Grupa Zywiec said that it was analyzing the situation and it was still too early to comment.
Meanwhile, Poland’s third major beer producer, Kompania Piwowarska from the Asahi Group revealed using its innovative technology to retrieve carbon dioxide during its production process and its output was unaffected.
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