Polish beer

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Beer has always been important for Poles. It is said that one Polish ruler, Prince Leszek I the White, was encouraged by the Pope to take part in a crusade. He ultimately refused because, as he wrote to the Pope, "the holy land has no beer."

Traditional Polish beer (In Polish: Piwo) is usually pilsener, lager or porter. The most popular Polish brands are Żywiec, Okocim, EB, Lech, Leżajsk, Tyskie, Królewskie, and Warka.

Polish beer industry

According to a 2006 Ernst & Young report, the Polish beer market is the Europe's fifth-largest and the tenth-largest in the world. It is also one of the fastest-growing markets with the growth rate of 3-5% per year much above the EU average. Polish brewers made about 7% of the entire European production volume in 2005. Statistically, a Pole drinks some 80 litres of beer a year, which is the EU average.

In 2005, breweries paid some PLN 2.5bn in excise taxes and a total of PLN 6bn in all types of taxes to the state and local budgets.

Foreign investment

Heineken-owned Żywiec, SABMiller-owned Kompania Piwowarska, and Carlsberg-owned Okocim control a total of 85% of the Polish market. Foreign investors have so far invested about €1bn in Poland and relocated some of their production to the country, thanks to which Polish beer exports, mostly sold under flagship international brands, rose to 3% of the total production volume in 2005.