NEOLOCALISM- AND GLOCALIZATION-RELATED FACTORS BEHIND THE EMERGENCE AND EXPANSION OF CRAFT BREWERIES IN CZECH AND POLISH REGIONS

ABSTRACT

During the last decades, North America as well as Europe have experienced a significant boom of craft breweries. While it has been understood mainly as a result of neolocalism, we argue that this view is overly unilateral and depending on spatial context. Other factors like glocalization may potentially also affect the emergence of craft breweries. This paper examined the factors influencing the expansion of craft breweries in seven regions of Czechia and Poland, two Central European countries that share similar history but differ in their brewing traditions. Based on semi-structured interviews with representatives of 59 breweries, we identified important similarities but also fundamental differences. Many breweries have indeed been significantly influenced by neolocalism, while some did not capitalize on it, and others even directly rejected it. The role of spatial context has also manifested, particularly through the increased importance of glocalization in several regions.

Keywords::

• brewing industry
• glocalization
• neolocalism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00167428.2021.2023529

Notes

¹ In this paper, we define local scale in a manner similar to Paasi’s (1986, 2003) conceptualization of place, that is as a scale of individual’s immediate experience and everyday trajectories. In contrast, the scale of regions is defined as a wider, often institutionalized collectivity beyond reach of individual experience. However, both local and regional scale have in common that they are sub-national and subject to a strong spatial identity relative to (either against or in accord with) globalization.

² In our research regions are understood as sub-state units—termed “kraj” in Czechia (max. 1 million inhabitants) and “voivodeship” in Poland (about 2 million inhabitants).

³ In the USA, the limit of 15,000 barrels per year is used for “microbreweries” (Schnell and Reese 2014), while craft breweries can have annual exhibitions of up to 6 million barrels (Reid and Gatrell 2017). These are relatively large industrial enterprises, which differ significantly from the understanding of craft breweries as local actors. Therefore, in defining craft breweries, we follow the definition of the Czech-Moravian Microbreweries Association—10,000 hl per year (i.e., 11,735 barrels). Actually, most of the examined breweries are much smaller.

⁴ The growth in demand for new styles can be linked to a new generation of so-called millennials (Holtkamp and others 2016; Reid and Gatrell 2017; Pokrivčák and others 2019; Wojtyra 2020). In the case of Central Europe, a shifting of lifestyles closer to the West and growing income of the population can play a role (Pokrivčák and others 2019; Wojtyra 2020).

⁵ The production of hops in Poland is about 3,000 tons per year compared to about 7,000 tons in Czechia (Barth Haas Group 2000). Polish malting plants annually produce about 400,000 tons of malt, compared to about 600,000 in Czechia (Euromalt 2018). Poland is the largest importer of Czech malt (roughly 80,000 tons per year), while trade in the opposite direction is nil (Euromalt 2018).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Czech Science Foundation; under Grant [P404/18-13381S]; and Charles University under Grant [UNCE/HUM 018].