Poland’s beer and cheese sectors face production cuts as knock-on effect of soaring gas prices

Producers of beer, soft drinks and cheese in Poland are facing major cutbacks in production as a knock-on effect of soaring gas prices, which have limited supplies of carbon dioxide (CO2). The Polish branch of Danish beer giant Carlsberg is among those to warn that it may have to significantly reduce or even stop production.

Earlier this week, two large Polish state-owned chemicals firms, Azoty and Anwil, announced the suspension of some forms of production due to the high price of natural gas.

Because CO2 is a byproduct of those processes, that decision is having a “domino effect” on producers of beer, soft drinks and cheese, which “have found themselves in a crisis”, reports the Rzeczpospolita daily.

Cuts in production of dry ice will also hinder storage and transportation, “seriously endangering the dairy market”, adds the newspaper. Azoty is likewise currently unable to ensure supplies of nitric acid, which is used for maintaining the hygiene of production lines.

“This means a dramatic situation for the [dairy] sector,” Agnieszka Maliszewska, director of the Polish Chamber of Milk, told Rzeczpospolita. Producers of carbonated soft drinks, which require CO2, are also facing challenges.

“This situation has surprised everyone, it is a gigantic problem for all our producers, a direct threat to the continuity of production, because CO2 is an essential ingredient for beer production,” said Bartłomiej Morzycki, general director of the Union of Brewing Industry Employers – Polish Breweries.

If CO2 deliveries are not resumed, Carlsberg Polska will have to significantly reduce or even temporarily halt beer production in Poland, spokeswoman Beata Ptaszyńska-Jedynak told media yesterday.

However, beermaker Kompania Piwowarska – which produces the popular Lech and Tyskie brands – told TVN24 that its technology allows the recovery of CO2 from the brewing process and it “will continue production as planned”. Grupa Żywiec, another big beer producer, told Business Insider that it is “analysing the situation”.

Morzycki said that the industry is hoping for “urgent action by the government”. Speaking last night to state broadcaster TVP, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that “the government is working on an aid package for energy-intensive companies” that would entail a “special package of state subsidies”.

Cuts in the production of fertiliser by Azoty and Anwil are also expected to have a significant negative impact on Polish agriculture, though not until next year. Similar problems caused by high gas prices are affecting food production across Europe, notes Politico.

Main image credit: erik forsberg/Flickr (under CC BY-NC 2.0)

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.