UPDATE: Corona beer shortage continues in Australia

There were fears that sharing the same name as a deadly pandemic would dent sales of Corona beer, but the opposite has happened – there’s currently a shortage in Australia.

You heard it right, cases of both coronavirus and Corona are running low …

A spokesman for Carlton and United Breweries, which imports the beer from Mexico, told the Herald Sun: “The shortages are due to a recent increase in demand along with supply issues stemming from COVID-19.

“These include production delays in Mexico, shipping congestion and issues at Australian ports.”

In April, production of Corona beer temporarily ceased in Mexico due to COVID-19 restrictions, following the government ordering a shutdown of what it deemed “non-essential” services.

However, the Herald Sun has also speculated that Victorians “getting back on the beers” may have also been a contributing factor.

“The recent spike in Corona sales is understood to be partly due to punters wanting a memento of the beer that shares a name with coronavirus,” the newspaper added.

Corona beer sales have increased by more than 17% globally since March 2020, defying predictions the brand would suffer during COVID-19. Google data showed that searches for “beer virus” and “Corona beer virus” surged 1100% during March.

However, the 2020 Brand Finance Beers 50 list recently crowned Corona the No.1 beer brand in the world, with a value of $US8.1billion.

Brand Finance noted: “The leading Mexican brand is imported into a staggering 120 countries and sales remain solid across its key markets, including China and South Africa.

“With China being Corona’s largest market, outside of Mexico, the unfortunate combination of the coincidence in name and strict nationwide lockdown across the nation at the beginning of the year over Chinese New Year has caused a decline in sales. The makers of Corona have, however, hit back at allegations that the pandemic has damaged its brand, claiming that consumers understand that there is no link between the two.”

CUB has assured punters that more than one million Corona slabs will be delivered to bottle shops from next week to the end of December to meet demand.

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