Not a great deal of beer was imported into Holland before the war. The vast majority came from just two sources: Germany and Czechoslovakia. With the former definitely the senior partner. Only small quantities came from Belgium, a country which would eventually become the source of most imports.
Some rather unexpected countries appear in the table: Indonesia, Egypt and Curacao. It’s hard to understand the logic behind shipping beer such long distances from places not renowned for brewing.
It’s surprising what a large proportion of imports were in draught form – around 98%. I suppose it reflects the fact that the vast majority of beer was consumed in that format in Holland.
Looking at imports in percentage terms, the dominance of Germany is even more obvious. Over 85% were sourced there. Czechoslovakia us the only other country to hit double figures.
| Dutch beer imports by source 1936 - 1938 (hl) | |||||||||
| 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | |||||||
| draught | bottled | total | draught | bottled | total | draught | bottled | total | |
| Total | 24,092 | 559 | 24,651 | 24,690 | 405 | 25,095 | 25,436 | 324 | 25,760 |
| Germany | 20,565 | 354 | 20,919 | 21,155 | 195 | 21,550 | 22,125 | 192 | 22,517 |
| Belgium & Luxemb. | 851 | - | 851 | 800 | - | 800 | 528 | - | 528 |
| UK | 117 | 52 | 149 | 107 | 26 | 155 | 108 | 27 | 135 |
| France | 2 | - | 2 | - | - | - | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Czechoslovakia | 2,521 | - | 2,521 | 2,549 | - | 2,549 | 2,611 | - | 2,611 |
| Ireland | 26 | 26 | 2 | — | 2 | - | - | - | |
| Denmark | - | 69 | 69 | - | 45 | 45 | - | 50 | 50 |
| Egypt | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| South Africa | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| India | - | 9 | 9 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Indonesia | 9 | 4 | 15 | 14 | 2 | 16 | 27 | 26 | 53 |
| Surinam | 4 | - | 4 | 4 | - | 4 | - | - | - |
| Curacao | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | - | 3 |
| USA | - | - | - | 60 | 92 | 152 | 28 | 1 | 29 |
| New Zealand | - | - | - | - | 5 | 5 | - | - | - |
| Source: | |||||||||
| De Nederlandse Brouwindustrie in Cijfers, by Dr. H. Hoelen, Centraal Brouwerij Kantoor, 1955, held at the Amsterdam City Archives, page 32. | |||||||||
| Dutch beer imports by source 1936 - 1938 (%) | |||
| Country | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 |
| Germany | 84.86% | 85.87% | 87.41% |
| Belgium & Luxemb. | 3.45% | 3.19% | 2.05% |
| UK | 0.60% | 0.62% | 0.52% |
| France | 0.01% | 0.02% | |
| Czechoslovakia | 10.23% | 10.16% | 10.14% |
| Ireland | 0.11% | 0.01% | |
| Denmark | 0.28% | 0.18% | 0.19% |
| Egypt | 0.004% | ||
| South Africa | 0.004% | ||
| India | 0.04% | ||
| Indonesia | 0.06% | 0.06% | 0.21% |
| Surinam | 0.02% | 0.02% | |
| Curacao | 0.01% | ||
| USA | 0.61% | 0.11% | |
| New Zealand | 0.02% | ||
| Source: | |||
| De Nederlandse Brouwindustrie in Cijfers, by Dr. H. Hoelen, Centraal Brouwerij Kantoor, 1955, held at the Amsterdam City Archives, page 32. | |||
I could understand that beer was shipped to Indonesia and Curacao, since these both were Dutch colonies. Egypt is weird, since I would assume that the British supplied their troops and officials with beer.
ReplyDeleteThree entire hectolitres from Curacao? I suspect that was one single shipment. Clearly most people would have agreed with you that there wasn’t much sense in bringing it all that way.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if those tiny imports represented beer brewed in those countries or just beer that had originally been shipped to that country which was sent back home when a planned buyer never materialized.
ReplyDeleteYou see some of that with US imports from Mexico, where a certain percentage of beef imports from Mexico actually represent meat from US steers shipped to Mexico which later makes it way back North.
Let us recall that Indonesia, Surinam, and Curacao were Dutch colonies. The latter two territories still are, and are likely to remain in that status. As somebody with a soccer [football - but I do not use that word] background, being a citizen of Surinam or the Netherlands Antilles means you can get a European Union Passport to play professionally throughout Europe rather than being in [e.g.] a lower division in Mexico or the U.S.A.
ReplyDeleteSteve D.,
ReplyDeleteSurinam has been independent since the 1970s. The status of Curacao is more complicated. It isn't, for example, part of the EU like Martinique and other French possessions.
Having looked at the list of weird countries more closely, they all seem to be places where Heineken either owned or had a financial interest in, a brewery. Like Egypt.
InSearchOfKnowledge,
ReplyDeletethe beer was coming from those countries, not going to them. Egypt can be explained because Heineken owned a brewery there.
“I wonder if those tiny imports represented beer brewed in those countries or just beer that had originally been shipped to that country which was sent back home when a planned buyer never materialized.”
ReplyDeleteWhat tended to happen in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when a cargo found itself without a buyer at its destination was that the goods would be auctioned off to the highest bidder, not returned to the port of origin. Old newspapers are full of adverts for such things.
Perhaps trade conditions were more sophisticated by the 1930s though.