6. October 2011 9:00
Speakers of Bar Convent Berlin 2011: Leszek Wiwala
Leszek Wiwała is the President of the Polish Spirits Inudstry. He is coming to the Bar Convent Berlin for the Bar Poland, the 5th year Bar Convent Berlin Special, and as a Speaker. Welcome!
Leszek, you're coming to Bar Convent Berlin with a complex and exciting topic: "Rye and Republic - the History of Polish Vodka". Would you please introduce yourself and your work to our readers?
My name is Leszek Wiwała, I’m the President of the Polish Spirits Industry (PPS - Polski Przemysł Spirytusowy) – trade association representing spirits producers in Poland which have almost 80% of the domestic market. The main aim of PPS is to protect the interests of the spirits industry.
We try to accomplish our goals mainly through close cooperation with decision makers from the government, the Parliament and other public institutions. Simultaneously, social responsibility has been playing more and more vital role in our activity, thus we conduct a few social campaigns which find a broad recognition. PPS education activities are to increase the level of consumers’ awareness in order to encourage them to responsible drinking.
I am also Vice president of the European Spirits Organization (CEPS) – spirits producers representation at the European level.
I am the author of a book “The History of Polish Vodka” I was inspired to write it by the dispute on the definition of vodka in the European Union in the years 2004-2007.
At Bar Convent Berlin Poland will play a central role. What makes Poland a "spirit nation“?
There is no doubt that Poland has a longstanding tradition in production and consumption of spirits. Vodka has been present in Poland for centuries. First documents using a word „vodka“ come from the beginning of XVth century. It can be said that this tradition is being continued – Poland is currently the biggest producer of vodka in EU and the fourth market in the world in terms of its consumption. Our products are famous for its quality and I think that growing export is the best argument proofing it.
Using your kindness I would like to dispel some myth about Polish people who are commonly regarded as heavy drinkers. We don’t drink too much alcohol, especially in comparison with other EU nations, not mentioning Russians nor Ukrainians.
Most statistics taking into account all EU countries, place Poland in the middle in terms of amount of pure alcohol consumed per capita.
Next point is that we don’t drink as much strong alcohol as it seems. Spirits beverages account only for around 33% in terms of pure alcohol consumed per capita – beer (around 55%) is by far the most popular alcohol in Poland.
How strong are Polish traditions in consumption of alcohol remains, and how quickly they accept modern trends in Poland?
For more than two hundred years spirits were the most frequently consumed alcoholic beverages in Polish land. Everything started to change in early 90‘s of the XXth century when consumption of beer and wine were growing. In 1998 for the first time in modern history Poles drunk more beer than spirits (in l 100% alcohol).
Since then the gap between these two categories has been only rising. Currently, we drink per capita around: 1 l of wine, 3,2 l of spirits, 5 l of beer (in l 100% alcohol). We can summarize it by saying that Poland is not an exception and similarly to other countries, beer and generally beverages with lower level of alcohol are far more popular than strong beverages.
What is the most demanding challenge in the current Polish market for tenders with a sophisticated bar concept?
The Polish HoReCa sector has been growing and developing dynamically over last few years – not only in terms of number of bars, restaurants etc., but also in terms of quality. Thus, it is getting harder and harder to gain new clients and keep them. It is also strongly related to general consumers view and their wealthy. Slowdown of PGD growth does not encourage people to spent their time in bars. Still most spirits are consumed off trade. Nevertheless there is a positive trend in younger generations.
Already last years I met several Poles at Bar Convent Berlin. Berlin takes a special place for Polish orientation?
Nice to hear it. Polish-German relationship has very long tradition (more than thousand years). In my opinion there were much more mutual benefits then damages. Right now Germany is a main economic partner for Poland. We do not have many export product. Vodka is one of them so promotion of Polish Vodka is very important for the producers.
In order to gain success, we need to act in many ways and be present on as many important events, as we are only able to. Nowadays it is not a problem to manufacture high quality product. The main challenge is to inform people about special quality of your product. There is no doubt that Bar Convent Berlin is one of the most prestigious events of this kind and it is the most proper place to inform about the heritage and quality of Polish Vodka. We simply have to be here!
How does the Polish spirits segment developed in recent years? Can you give us some numbers and statistics?
Last decade and especially 7 years have been quite good for Polish spirits segment. In 2002 excise tax rate was decreased by 30% which diminished illegal trade and allowed more people to buy a legal alcohol. In consequence in 2008 spirits legal consumption was nearly two times bigger than before the tax reduction.
In 2009 the excise rate was increased by 9%. In two years there was decrease of sale estimated on 8% (about 25 milions l vol). That decrease of might be related to grey market. Generally, situation of the industry is much better than a few years ago. Not only consumption grew, but also production (by almost 90% comparing to 2001) and export (by nearly 120% comparing to 2001).
Next thing which is characteristic for last decade is a bigger concentration of producers – nowadays 4 the biggest companies account for around 90% of the market, while 10 years ago it was far more fragmented. Many manufacturers collapsed, others were taken over and merged.
In a couple of days you will attend Bar Convent Berlin. Are you looking forward to something special?
I am very curious how you are building the culture of responsible serving alcohol.
More information on Polski Przemysł Spirytusowy: pps.waw.pl
