A shortage of carbon dioxide is causing German drinks manufacturers to cut production and warn of bankruptcies, in the latest sign of how Europe’s energy crisis is sending shockwaves through the region’s economy.
“More and more of the companies in the beverage industry that depend on the availability of CO₂ are having to significantly reduce their production or stop it altogether,” Holger Eichele, head of the German brewers’ association, told the Financial Times. “For many of the companies affected, this has dramatic consequences.”
The gas is an important raw material for beverage companies because it is used to add fizz to carbonated drinks and to fill and empty beer bottles, kegs and tanks without it foaming or suffering taste effects through contact with air.