Business Cycles and Alcohol Consumption: Evidence from a Nonlinear Panel ARDL Approach

This study revisits the relationship between economic variables and alcohol consumption from a macro perspective. Focusing explicitly on the asymmetries of the responsiveness of alcohol consumption during the expansion and contraction phases of the business cycle, asymmetric panel estimators are employed. We employ a nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag model for a panel of 24 countries for the period 1961 to 2014. Findings show that expansion leads to a long-term increase in average alcohol consumption, while during contraction, the level of average alcohol consumption persists. Expansion, together with a pronounced reduction in the unemployment rate could, however, lead to a net reduction of gross alcohol and wine consumption. Nonetheless, if the recession corresponds with a surge in unemployment, this leads to a long-run increase in the level of total gross alcohol consumption but a decrease in wine and beer consumption. Reduction in unemployment does not lead to a reduction in beer consumption, as pre-expansion levels of beer consumption persist. (JEL Classifications: E32, I19, L66)

Circular economy in the brewing chain

The main aim of this review was to check for the applicability of the concept of circular economy to brewing chain. By analyzing the beer brewing process, it was possible to identify the main brewery wastes formed and packaging materials used as well as their range of composition and yields. In order to reduce the contribution of packaging material to the carbon footprint of beer, it would be necessary to replace one-way containers used nowadays with lighter, reusable, or recycled ones. Even if the contribution of beer consumption phase was taken into account, there was no definitive solution about the less environmentally impacting beer packaging format. The direct management of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) packaging for liquid foodstuffs could make available 100% recycled PET flakes to be reconverted into food-grade bottles with minimum downcycling to other non-food usage. The countless potential uses of brewery wastes in nutritional and biotechnological fields were tested in laboratory by disregarding any cost–benefit or market analysis. This was mainly because the estimated market price of dried brewer’s spent grain (BSG) resulted to be about 450% higher than that of conventional lignocellulose residues. All the alternative uses hailed in the literature appeared to be more useful for publishing articles than for defining any economically feasible reusing procedure for all brewery wastes. Owing to their high moisture content, such wastes are so perishable as to prevent their safe usage in the human food chain. Currently, their use as-is in animal feeding is the disposal method not only economically feasible but also able to reduce the greenhouse gas load of beer packed in glass bottles (GB) by about one-third of that associated with packaging materials. Not by chance, it is practiced by most industrial and craft breweries.

Moderate Beer Intake Downregulates Inflammasome Pathway Gene Expression in Human Macrophages

Inflammasomes are key components of the innate immunity system that trigger the inflammatory response. Inappropriate activity of the inflammasome system has been linked to onset and perpetuation of inflammation in atherosclerotic plaques and cardiovascular disease. Low-to-moderate beer consumption is inversely associated with cardiovascular event presentation, while high levels of alcohol intake are associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Although fermented beverages have been suggested to exert their beneficial effects through their anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, little is known regarding the capacity of beer to modulate innate immunity cell responses. To this aim, primed or activated THP-1 macrophages were conditioned with human serum obtained from a prospective two-arms longitudinal crossover study to investigate the effect of a moderate and regular daily intake of beer, either alcohol-free or traditional, in the regulation of TLR-mediated inflammatory responses in healthy but overweight individuals. Conditioned macrophages with serum obtained after four-week intervention with alcohol-free beer significantly reduced the transcription of pro-inflammatory interleukins such as IL-1β and TNF. The serum of traditional beer consumers did not exhibit the same capacity as the serum of alcohol-free beer consumers to reduce gene expression of pro-inflammatory interleukins; however, serum from traditional beer consumers showed a regulatory effect at the protein level by significantly decreasing the intracellular protein levels of pro-IL-1β in primed macrophages and preventing cleaved-IL-1β protein release.

Pandemic of Paradoxes: The Indirect Global Health Impacts of COVID-19

The indirect impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on several public health issues will be examined in the context of its impacts on multiple nations around the world. Not all possible health aspects of COVID-19 that are indirectly related to the disease will be examined. The ones chosen are: I. influenza, II. suicide, III. alcohol consumption, IV. fatal automobile accidents and V. birth rates. In each of these cases COVID-19 has had a paradoxical impact. Although COVID-19 is a dangerous respiratory virus, there has not been a synergism with the influenza virus as initially feared by some public health experts. In fact, there has been a global nonappearance of seasonal flu; a good, though indirect, paradoxical consequence of COVID-19. But most other paradoxical health consequences of COVID-19 have been largely negative, these include an increase in suicide but unexpectedly an initial reduction and changes in suicide patterns in many countries, an increase in alcohol consumption but paradoxically a reduction in beer consumption, some evidence of an increase in fatal automobile accidents (at least on a per mile driven basis) and of monumental long term global consequence, a significant decline in births in many major nations.

CHANGES IN THE PRODUCTION OF ARTISANAL BEER IN THE SOUTH OF THE FLUMINENSE REGION DURING THE PANDEMIC

Introduction: Brazil is the third largest beer producer in the world and with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, beer consumption has undergone an adaptation with closed restaurants and bars or bars with reduced public capacity. Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the changes arising from the pandemic in microbreweries in the southern region of Rio de Janeiro in the period between March and September 2020.Methods: The survey was conducted using a form consisting of eleven questions, which addressed issues related to changes in beer production. Results: The results showed that 53% of the breweries showed an increase in production and the arrival of new consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes brought adaptations in filling, with an increase of 17.6% in the use of PET bottles and innovation in marketing, with 88% using delivery and/or e-commerce applications. Conclusions: The results showed the increase in production and the arrival of new consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes aroused retail behavior in industries, making them adapt and search for innovations.

Dynamic analysis of source-based preferences: the case of imported beer in China

PurposeChinese beer consumption has undergone major changes within the last decade. The combination of a growing middle class and greater exposure to foreign products has resulted in a significant increase in beer imports. The authors examined transformations in this market and how beer preferences have changed over time. This study focuses on changes is origin-specific preferences (e.g. German beer and Mexican beer) as reflected by habit formation (i.e. dynamic consumption patterns) and changes in demand sensitivity to expenditure and prices.Design/methodology/approachThe authors estimated Chinese beer demand – differentiated by source – using a generalized dynamic demand model that accounted for habit formation and trends, as well as the immediate and long-run effects of expenditures and prices on demand. The authors employed a rolling regression procedure that allowed for model estimates to vary with time. Preference changes were inferred from the changing demand estimates, with a particular focus on changes in habit formation, expenditure allocating behaviour, and own-price responsiveness.FindingsResults suggest that Chinese beer preferences have changed significantly over the last decade, increasing for Mexican beer, Dutch beer and Belgian beer. German beer once dominated the Chinese market. However, all indicators suggest that German beer preferences are declining.Originality/valueAlthough China is the world's third largest beer importing country behind the United States and France. Few studies have focused on this market. While dynamic analyses of alcoholic beverage demand are not new, this is the first study to examine the dynamics of imported beer preferences in China and implications for exporting countries.

Factors influencing consumer behaviour in the beer market in the Czech Republic

The aim of the paper is to identify the factors influencing consumers when beer consumption and when choosing restaurants for beer consumption in the Czech Republic (CR). A partial goal was to compare preferences and factors influencing beer consumers from the Vysočina Region and the South-Moravian Region. The survey included a questionnaire survey, which 408 respondents took part in. The results showed that the most influential factors in the selection of beer for consumers are taste, a high-quality brand, and Czech production. Surprisingly, price was not found to be an influential factor in beer selection but is rather neutral. Factors that influence consumers most when choosing a restaurant for beer consumption were also identified. Consumers are most influenced by the quality of the beer on offer and the environment in which it is consumed.