The French government this week passed a law that adds 480 million euros ($628 million) in new taxes on beer while leaving wine unscathed.
“The government doesn’t want to touch wine and champagne producers because they are much too powerful,” Stephane Bogaert, the head of French microbrewery Brasserie Saint-Germain, said in an interview at his small brewery, which employs eight and has 1.5 million euros of revenue.
With beer levies rising 160 percent to bring in the extra receipts, the 2 billion-euro industry is bracing for shrinking sales, investments and jobs. Danish brewer Carlsberg, which owns France’s biggest beer brand, Kronenbourg, says it may have to cut jobs in the country.
News Tribune news services
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