Krombacher, one of Germany’s largest brewers, saw a drop in beer sales hit overall revenues last year.

The privately-owned group generated revenue of €944.5m ($972.3m) in 2024, down 0.7% year on year.

In volume terms, Krombacher said it sold 5.9m hectolitres of beer last year, a decline of 1.4 on 2023.

The volumes of products sold under the Krombacher brand dipped 1.1% to 5.7m hl.

However, the group reported a positive performance for its Schweppes business.

Krombacher acquired the distribution rights for Schweppes, Orangina and Dr Pepper in Germany and Austria in 2006.

Combined, the sales volumes of the three brands grew 1.7% last year to 1.6m hl. Schweppes dominates those volumes. Krombacher grew its Schweppes volumes by 1.2% to 1.3m hl.

The revenue Krombacher generated from its namesake products fell 1.1% to €729.8m.

Across Schweppes, Orangina and Dr Pepper, the company booked revenue of €189.1m, up 1.6%.

“We had to contend with a variety of challenges in 2024,” Hendrik Kuhn, Krombacher’s sales director, said.

“Subdued consumer sentiment, a lack of distribution structures in parts of the retail sector at the beginning of the year, a rainy spring and, unfortunately, little impetus in the summer, despite an overall successful European Football Championship in our own country, were factors that influenced our results. Nevertheless, last year once again showed how strongly our brands are positioned in the market.”

Krombacher pointed to growing sales of its range of Fassbrause non-alcoholic products. Volumes rose 10.5% to 221,000 hl.