Asahi’s chief executive has warned that climate change could lead to beer shortages as warmer temperatures hit barley and hops supplies around the world. 

Atsushi Katsuki, who has headed the Japanese brewer since 2021, said analysis conducted by the company found that global warming was set to reduce barley yields and the quality of hops significantly over the next three decades, and warned of a beer shortage.

France’s spring barley harvest could decrease 18 per cent by 2050 under the UN’s 4 degree scenario, the most severe, while Poland’s harvest would shrink 15 per cent. The quality of hops, a key component for the preservation as well as the flavour of beer, would decline 25 per cent in the Czech Republic, one of the world’s largest hop producers.