What company data reveals about the Belgian beer market
What do annual accounts tell us about a Belgian beer market that has been shrinking for years?
Trends Business Information provided the financial company data for this analysis of sixty Belgian breweries. The figures reveal just how widely performance varies: while several large and mid-sized players are under pressure, other breweries are managing to grow through new products, exports and sharp positioning.
The Trends article below maps out these developments and links the financial results to the strategies behind the brands.
The beer market has been shrinking for years. Yet it is mainly the large Belgian breweries that are taking the hit, according to a balance sheet analysis by Trends. Smaller players are managing to stand out in an oversaturated market with fresh ideas. Among Flemish breweries, Vanhonsebrouck recorded the strongest revenue growth. With Kasteel Rouge, the Ingelmunster-based brewer created an entirely new segment. – Wolfgang Riepl, Trends journalist (article published in Trends Magazine on 17/09/2026)
Heavy trucks drive onto the 7.5-hectare site of Brouwerij Vanhonsebrouck in Ingelmunster. Their tarpaulins advertise Kasteel Rouge and Kasteel Rubus Framboise. These strong fruit beers are the West Flemish brewery’s success products. The standout is Kasteel Rouge, a cherry beer with an alcohol content of 8 percent that was launched in 2007. It was created by owner and CEO Xavier Vanhonsebrouck (59).
Kasteel Rouge brought movement to the Belgian beer market, which has been declining in volume for decades. Thanks to that success, Kasteel Brouwerij Vanhonsebrouck NV tops our ranking of the best-performing breweries in Flanders. With revenue growth of almost 12 percent, the West Flemish brewery ranks fifth overall. But it is above all the 129 percent increase in operating profit that crowns Vanhonsebrouck the champion.
Nor was 2025 a one-off. Brouwerij Vanhonsebrouck’s revenue rose from €29 million in 2017 to almost €57 million in 2025 — an increase of no less than 96.5 percent. Over the same period, inflation in Belgium rose by 29.8 percent.
“Kasteel Rouge accounts for 46 percent of our company’s total volume and group revenue,” says Xavier Vanhonsebrouck, a fifth-generation member of the brewing family. “In 2025, we sold a total volume of 193,000 hectolitres. This year, we are heading towards 210,000 hectolitres, while the overall Belgian beer market is declining by 5 percent. Our revenue will also continue to grow, reaching €65 million, or 15 percent more than in 2025.”
“With Kasteel Rouge, we created an entirely new segment in the beer market,” Vanhonsebrouck explains. “We hold more than half of that market. Brewers are constantly trying to come up with new beers, but they keep competing for the same beer drinker. Yet there are also many people who do not drink beer. That is the audience we target. Kasteel Rouge allows us to reach consumers who previously drank rosé or an aperitif, usually more expensive drinks than Kasteel Rouge.”
For Kasteel Rouge, Xavier Vanhonsebrouck took inspiration from Bacardi. “The normal alcohol content of cherry beer is around 4 to 5 percent,” he explains. “In 2005, Bacardi Breezer started to become popular in bars and restaurants. It was a mix of rum and soft drink, served in a fashionable 33-centilitre bottle, and became popular among young people. It was expensive because it was based on Bacardi and excise duties on spirits are much higher than those on beer. With an 8 percent cherry beer, we fall under the much lower beer excise duties while offering a similar experience.”
Kasteel Rouge is not Brouwerij Vanhonsebrouck’s only successful product. In 2023, the brewery launched Kasteel Rubus Framboise, a raspberry beer with an alcohol content of 7 percent. Two years later, Kasteel Tropical followed. This summer, Kasteel Tropical Twist was added, a cocktail beer with an alcohol content of 9.5 percent. “Cocktail beers are a new variant,” Xavier Vanhonsebrouck explains. “Here too, we are targeting consumers who do not drink beer but do enjoy cocktails. We believe this target group will be interested in our offering.”
Alongside its stronger alcoholic beers, the brewer also offers alcohol-free variants. Kasteel Rouge 0.0 was launched in 2024. Once again, ambitions were high. Just over two years later, alcohol-free variants account for 17 percent of the brewery’s on-trade volume. “And that share is still increasing,” says the CEO. “At AB InBev, alcohol-free beers account for 6 percent of the volume sold in the Belgian hospitality sector.”
Within the brewing industry, Xavier Vanhonsebrouck is regarded as an unconventional entrepreneur. His father, Luc Vanhonsebrouck, also spent years taking on the major brewers. “I am a bit of a rebel,” Xavier Vanhonsebrouck admits. He has worked for the family brewery since 1991 and became CEO in 2008. “I had to convince my father to sell Kasteel Rouge. I had to fight for it. But in 1991, our brewery had a sales volume of 40,000 hectolitres. The St. Louis gueuze and cherry beer accounted for 95 percent of sales volume. It was an extremely competitive market, with rivals such as Belle-Vue, Mort Subite, Lindemans and Timmermans. Every year, our margins shrank because of that intense competition.”
Xavier Vanhonsebrouck is brief when discussing the older beers in the portfolio. “We have a strategic plan for Brigand, Filou and St. Louis. I cannot say much about it today. We will announce more next year. Perhaps we will continue to invest in them, although I cannot promise that those brands will still exist for much longer. Volumes are declining, as they are elsewhere in the beer market.”
How are the other Belgian breweries performing? Trends analysed the balance sheets of sixty companies with a gross margin of at least €1.5 million. The outcome is fairly positive. Only five brewers recorded an operating loss in the 2025 financial year. Those taking the biggest hits are mainly mid-sized players that rely on high-volume lager. Alken-Maes, a subsidiary of Heineken, recorded the largest loss — €99 million — as a result of an exceptional impairment. The producer of Cristal Alken, Maes Pils and Mort Subite, among others, faces intense market competition. Ongoing promotions are putting prices under pressure.
Another mid-sized player, Brouwerij Haacht, has been struggling for years. This brewery is also heavily dependent on lager, with Primus as its main brand. Ninety percent of its sales come from the hospitality sector. The brewery’s capacity is also filled through contract brewing, which generates little or sometimes no margin.
Brouwerij Palm is a special case. Its sharp decline in revenue is mainly the result of a change in reporting. Since October, revenue for Dutch parent company Swinkels has been calculated at production prices. Nevertheless, the board of directors’ report stresses that the beer segment remains under pressure. Sales in hospitality and retail are said to be declining. The trend towards lower alcohol consumption is expected to continue.
No separate Belgian results are available for Duvel Moortgat. In early April, CEO Michel Moortgat told Trends about sales in Belgium: “Things are going fairly well in Belgium, but not exceptionally well.”
Besides Ghent-based BeerSelect, the three biggest revenue growers in our list are Walloon breweries. At the top is Brasserie de Silly, near the language border in Silly. The sixth-generation family business, founded in 1850, expanded its production capacity. Growth is driven mainly by exports. The company performs well with brands that are less well known in Flanders, such as Abbaye de Forest and Enghien Blonde.
Brouwerij De Halve Maan in Bruges has once again enjoyed a strong year. “We certainly cannot complain about our figures in recent years,” says managing director Xavier Vanneste. “We continue to grow in a shrinking market, mainly thanks to the success of our alcohol-free speciality beer Sportzot. We are also making progress in most of our priority export markets.”
Brouwerij Vander Ghinste saw its revenue rise by almost 3 percent. Operating profit increased particularly strongly, making 2025 a record year for the brewery from Bellegem near Kortrijk. “We invest in quality,” says managing director Omer Jean Vander Ghinste. “Over the past ten years, we have built an almost entirely new brewery, always with the quality of our beers in mind. We are also consistently developing our Omer, Lefort and Ypra brands. We give our beers a strong sense of authenticity, tradition and craftsmanship.”
From figures to business insights
The brewing sector demonstrates how important it is to assess revenue, profitability and balance-sheet data in context. A shrinking market does not mean that every company is moving in the same direction: behind the averages are clear differences in growth, profitability and financial strength.
Trends Business Information helps make these differences visible by providing reliable company and financial information as a basis for analysis and business decision-making.
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