The Italian beer is threatened by low-cost foreign competition. Beverages with quality standards lower than those established by Italian regulations, but authorized for marketing throughout the EU by virtue of the principle of mutual recognition.
Italian beer, low-cost competition
According to Italian law, “beer” is a denomination usable only if the product has an alcohol content above 3.5% and a Plato degree of at least 10.5%.
While Italian brewers guarantee quality as described above, companies from other European countries flood the retail market of the Peninsula with streams of colored water, pseudo-beers with Plato degrees below the minimum threshold.
The tax issue
Worsening the imbalance is the tax system, denounces Assobirra, the Italian brewery association.
In addition to saving on the amount of raw materials (especially malt), low-cost foreign producers also save on excise duties, which in Italy are calculated based on the Plato degree.
