Research and Markets: Germany Food and Drink Report Q4 2012

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/4c65z3/germany_food_and_d) has announced the addition of the "Germany Food and Drink Report Q4 2012" report to their offering.

“Germany Food and Drink Report Q4 2012”

The Germany Food and Drink Report provides industry professionals and strategists, corporate analysts, food and drink associations, government departments and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on Germany's food and drink industry.

Germany's economic outlook remains clouded by the continued risk of a eurozone break-up scenario, which would lead to an immediate collapse in fixed investment and hit external demand for German exports very hard. Indeed, we note that our latest economic growth projections for Germany show that we do not see a meaningful economic rebalancing process towards higher household consumption (and away from export-led growth) taking shape in Germany over the medium term. This will prevent a more rapid rise in final household consumption expenditure, while leaving the economy highly vulnerable to the very weak growth trajectory for the wider eurozone economy over the coming 10 years.

Headline Industry Data (local currency)

- 2012 per capita food consumption = +2.6%; forecast to 2016 = +15.2%

- 2012 alcoholic drink sales = +0.9%; forecast to 2016 = +4.2%

- 2012 soft drink sales = +2.8%; forecast to 2016 = +16.4%

- 2012 mass grocery retail sales = +4.7%; forecast to 2016 = +27.8%

The move is a response to weak performance at the unit, which has been hit by changing consumption patterns and the incursion of supermarket groups into the convenience channel. Over the last four years, Metro's cash-and-carry unit (from which it generates 46% of its revenues) has suffered owing to poor performance in the domestic market and slowing sales in other Western European markets.

BMI believes a trend away from cash-and-carry outlets is structural rather than cyclical, with leading grocery retailers expanding their operations into the convenience channel and reducing the base of independent outlets upon which Metro is reliant. This is likely to prompt consolidation within the sector, and the tie-up between Booker and Metro may become part of a wider trend.

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