Szent András Brewery is located in the south-eastern Hungarian town of Békésszentandrás. It was established in 1993 and was chosen as the brewery of the year in 2011. The small enterprise employs some fifty people, and has a portfolio of around 30 different types of beer. It has won more than fifty domestic and international awards already since its foundation and now, with a recently introduced new product, a cider, Szent András Brewery was awarded with a gold medal at a prestigious competition in Litomeřice in the Czech Republic, the company announced on 27 April. At the same international beer competition, the brewery’s Almás Rétes (Apple Strudel) pastry ale, made with real apples, cinnamon, and Ugandan vanilla, was awarded a silver medal.
Over 200 breweries from the Czech Republic to Spain competed with nearly 1,200 beers in 39 categories. The winning Hungarian cider, the sour cherry version of the Kertem Cider family, was created in collaboration with the Teacher’s Cider from Szentes, and is made entirely from freshly pressed apples with natural fermentation.
Szent András Brewery told Hungarian news agency MTI that while the beer revolution has successfully spread higher quality products in the beer industry, domestic cider production is lagging behind in this respect, and it is the brewery’s mission to lead the process of introducing premium cider products to the Hungarian market.
Brewing beer, including craft beer brewing, is an energy-intensive activity (boiling requires heating, and fermentation requires cooling), which results in strong inflationary pressure on products in the current economic climate. The decline in purchasing power and real wages also present challenges to the sector. Additionally, a higher proportion of commercial partners (primarily pubs and restaurants) have closed down recently than in previous years, and although new ones continue to open, this intense change ties up additional resources for both large factories and small breweries. Nevertheless, in 2022, Szent András sold 842 thousand litres of beer, 4 per cent more than in 2021, and the web store established during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic has since become a stable sales channel.
Product development is continuous at the company, with seasonal specialties brewed throughout the year. In addition, Szent András has started a self-financed cost- and energy efficiency modernisation programme, replacing the brewing kettles, and optimising the brewing process for more efficient malt and energy usage. Gas consumption optimisation is in progress, with the reduction of rented storage areas and basic and packaging material stock levels among the cost-saving factors. The brewery is also planning on building a solar power system within a year.
The brewery’s revenue in 2022 was 799 million HUF, which is 124 million HUF more than in the previous year.
