Damm increases invoicing by 26% to 1,876 million
The company positions itself as a global group within the beverage industry, with a presence in over 130 countries and a total sales volume of 21.6 million hectoliters
Damm, a leader in the food and beverage sector and under the direction of Demetrio Carceller Arce, achieved solid results in FY 2022 with 1,876 million euro in revenue, a 26% over the previous financial year, and a workforce of 5,577 people. This confirms the positive evolution of the business and its surpassing of pre-pandemic levels.
While the start of the year was marked by a return to normalcy with notable growth in the hospitality sector, the war in Ukraine led to an overall worsening of the stress placed on the supply chain and a significant increase in the cost of energy, raw materials, packaging materials, and logistics costs.
In this scenario, highlighted by uncertainty due to the impact of the overall increase in prices and production costs, in addition to the difficulty to access supplies of specific raw materials, the company achieved solid results thanks to the efforts and investments made for the ongoing improvement of efficiency and productivity across its business, which resulted in a net benefit for the 2022 FY of 101 million (-16.4%). This all happened within the framework of the company's commitment to the continuous reduction of its environmental impact. This result was achieved following a special effort in terms of efficiency, the purpose of which was to protect the interests of hospitality clients and consumer's purchasing power. Both elements are central to the business, in order to avoid passing on the cost increases the company experienced during the financial year. The results of the 2022 FY will be submitted for approval by the company's Shareholder's Assembly, to be held at the old Estrella Damm Brewery on May 23.
In terms of production levels during 2022, the company's sales volumes experienced significant growth in all product categories for the 2021 FY. In this sense, the sales volume for beverages in 2022 reached 21.6 million hectoliters, compared to 19.33 million hectoliters in 2021, which signifies a 12% increase in total production for 2021. Beyond the beverages division, the rest of the distribution, catering establishments and logistics business units behaved splendidly, in line with the increase in consolidated revenue.
A preview of Damm's international expansion process
During 2022, Damm operations in international markets achieved significant increases with regard to volume and notoriety. Currently, the company has over 500 employees devoted exclusively to international activities.
The acquisition of the Eagle Brewery factory, located in the English town of Bedford, has allowed the company to strengthen its presence in one of its main overseas markets. The factory has a production capacity of 1 million hectoliters per year, mainly to produce draft beer- and directly employs 67 people that have become part of Damm's staff in the United Kingdom.
These days, over 30% of the beverage business activity already takes place in overseas markets and in company-owned production facilities. Likewise, it is worth noting that the British market is one of the main international markets in which the Damm beer portfolio continues to gain market share year after year.
Sustainability as a lever for growth
During the previous financial year, Damm has continued to move forward with its plans involving environmental prevention and care, in which circularity continues to be a strategic pillar, along with the improvement of energy efficiency across all its operations. The company continues to be firmly committed to sustainability, which encompasses the entire process: from the selection of ingredients, guided by local farmers, to packaging and the fermentation and malting phases.
On the other hand, Damm has continued to boost energy efficiency at its facilities, where 100% of the electric energy used is certified as coming from an eco-friendly source and has invested in efficient and renewable energy sources such as co-generation, tri-generation stemming from biogas, or photovoltaic solar energy. As a result of this progress, the company currently uses 36% less energy to produce each hectoliter of beer at brand beer installations, compared to 15 years ago.
It has also continued working on replacing decorated sick-pack plastic for cardboard-based packaging sourced from forests that are managed sustainably and responsibly. The company's gamble on eco-friendly packaging has translated into a reduction of close to 360 tons of plastic waste per year.
In this sense, the company invested 8.2 million euro in 2022 for the research and development of new products, the design of new packaging, as well as for the improvement of industrial processes and consumption efficiency regarding raw materials.
Betting on clean energy
With the expansion of the photovoltaic facilities of several of its installations, the company has reached 32,182 m2 of installed photovoltaic panels in 2022, becoming the Iberian peninsula's brewery group with the largest amount of self-producing solar energy. With this expansion, Damm is now able to self-produce 7.1 GWh of clean energy per year. During the year to come, the company expects to continue expanding its solar farm with the installation of 23,500 m2 of solar panels at El Prat de Llobregat, la Moravia, Murcia, Málaga, and the Zal Port, a project with 3.6 million euro of financing. In 2023 it is expected that over half of all electricity consumed by Damm shall be self-generated, an 82% in terms of the main brewery in El Prat de Llobregat (Barcelona).
Also, during the previous year, a transversal environmental management system aimed at optimizing water consumption across its entire value chain, was promoted. All implemented initiatives have led the company to reduce water consumption at its plants by 2022% in 36.
Damm, responsible leadership and social purpose
The company continues to promote several projects that contribute to the building of a fairer and more egalitarian society. Damm's patronage and philanthropic activities are channeled through the Damm Foundation within the nation's sporting, social and cultural spheres. It highlights its commitment to grassroots sport as a tool for promoting physical activity, healthy habits and the values associated with sport. In fact, work on the construction of the future sports city began in late 2022. The facilities will occupy 30,000 m2 on Montjuïc Mountain (Barcelona) and will include two 11 football fields- one of which will be able to be split into two 7 football fields, and two buildings.
