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A12 business
Monday 19 SepteMber 2022

Oktoberfest is back but inflation hits

brewers, cost of beer

Grevenstein, which is not
one of the brands sold at
Oktoberfest.
Inflation hit an annual
7.9% in Germany in Au-
gust, and a record 9.1% in
the 19 countries that use
the euro currency. Rising
consumer prices in Europe
have been fueled above
all by Russia restricting sup-
plies of natural gas, driving
prices through the roof.
That feeds through to elec-
tricity, because gas is used
to generate power, and to
the cost of a host of indus-
Visitors lift glasses of beer during the opening of the 186th 'Ok-
toberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, on Sept. 21, 2019. trial processes that run on
Associated Press gas, such as making fertil-
izer, glass and steel. Farm-
By MICHAEL FAULHABER It's a mirror of the inflation ers also are seeing higher
and DANIEL NIEMANN running across the econ- costs for heating buildings
Associated Press omy: Sky-high natural gas and fertilizing crops.
MUNICH (AP) — Oktober- prices caused by Russia's All that gets built into the
fest is back in Germany af- war in Ukraine are boosting prices of things people buy,
ter two years of pandemic what businesses and con- and those higher prices cut
cancellations — the same sumers have to pay for en- into their purchasing power.
bicep-challenging beer ergy, while recovering de- Inflation is "running red hot
mugs, fat-dripping pork mand from the pandemic in Germany" and could ap-
knuckles, pretzels the size is making parts and raw proach 10% by year's end,
of dinner plates, men in materials hard to come by. said Carsten Brzeski, chief
leather shorts and women Brewing equipment is of- eurozone economist at ING
in cleavage-baring tradi- ten fueled by natural gas, bank. The rate should fall
tional dresses. and prices for barley malt next year as consumer de-
But while brewers are more — or grain that has been mand weakens — but that
than glad to see the return allowed to germinate by is small consolation today.
of the Bavarian capital's moistening it — have more In any case, Oktoberfest is
sudsy tourist centerpiece, than doubled, to over 600 a much-needed boost for
both they and visitors are euros a ton. Glass bottles Munich's hotels and food
under pressure from infla- have risen by 80%, as glass- service industry.
tion in a way that could makers pay more for ener- "It's beautiful," Mayor Di-
scarcely be imagined the gy. Bottle caps are up 60%, eter Reiter said. "You can
last time it was held in 2019. and even glue for labels is see the enthusiasm has re-
For one thing, the 1-liter (2- in short supply. turned." He downplayed
pint) mug of beer will cost "Prices for everything have concerns about such a
between 12.60 and 13.80 changed significantly this big event during the pan-
euros ($12.84 and $14.07) year," said Sebastian Utz, demic, saying the spread
this year, which is an in- head technician at Mu- of COVID-19 is "no longer
crease of about 15% com- nich's historic Hofbraeu the decisive factor" and
pared with 2019, accord- Brewery, which traces its adding, "Let's see how it
ing to the official Oktober- roots in the city to 1589. "To goes."Some 487 beer brew-
fest homepage. brew beer you need a lot eries, restaurants, fish and
The event opens at noon of energy ... and for refrig- meat grills, wine vendors
Saturday when Munich's eration. And at the same and others will serve rev-
mayor taps the first keg time, we need raw materi- elers at Oktoberfest, and
and announces "O'zapft is," als — barley malt, hops — opening hours will be even
or "It's tapped" in Bavarian where procurement has longer than in the past, with
dialect. increased in price." the first beer tents opening
For Germany's brewers, ris- The costs of everything — at 9 a.m. and closing at
ing costs go much deeper cardboard, stainless steel 10:30 p.m. The last orders
than simply the price of a for barrels, wood pallets, will be taken at 9:30 p.m.
round at the festival's long cleaning supplies to keep In the years before COV-
wooden benches. They the brewing tanks spotless ID-19, about 6 million peo-
are facing higher prices all — have gone up. ple visited the celebrations
along their chain of pro- "These are prices that the annually, many of them
duction, from raw ingredi- German brewing industry dressed in traditional Ba-
ents like barley and hops has never seen before," varian garb — the women
to finishing touches such said Ulrich Biene, spokes- in Dirndl dresses, the men in
as beer caps and packing man for the historic family- Lederhosen, or knee-length
material. owned Veltins Brewery in leather trousers.q