AssoBirra: for summer 2026 Italians choose conviviality close to home

According to the latest survey conducted by Ipsos Doxa for the AssoBirra Beer Information Centre (Cib)thesummer 2026 tells the story of a new idea of socialisingwith beer being confirmed as a natural and cross-cutting presence.

Socialising close to home

According to the research, beer is imagined as the protagonist above all at home or at the homes of friends and relatives (66%), confirming the growing centrality of domestic and semi-domestic spaces as places for summer conviviality. This is followed by restaurants and pizzerias (50%), venues such as bars, pubs and beer houses (47%) and village fairs or local festivals (39%), confirming the value of widespread opportunities for socialising and of the connection with the local area.

Even more informal settings and outdoor spaces help to shape this new geography of socialising: 30% associate beer with picnics and barbecues, 28% with the beach or seaside resorts and 23% with concerts or festivals. More limited, but still significant, are the proportions relating to parks and green spaces (17%), day trips to villages or small towns (16%) and squares or historic town centres (16%), signs of a summer that finds value not only in holidays proper, but also in moments spent close to home.

Annual Report 2025

This scenario is also confirmed by the data in AssoBirra’sAnnual Report 2025 which states that beer consumption in Italy remained in 2025 above 21 million hectolitres, confirming the sector’s substantial resilience, while the low- and no-alcohol beer segment nearly doubled its market share, rising from 2,1% to 3,9% in a single year.

“The data from this edition of the Cib show an interesting change: summer socialising is increasingly built around simple, accessible and authentic moments, in which beer fits in across the board and finds a natural place,” comments Andrea Bagnolini, General Manager of AssoBirra. “It is no longer merely the drink associated with holidays or traditional out-of-home consumption, but one that accompanies a summer daily life made up of relationships, spontaneity and sharing: an evolution that reflects lifestyles closer to local communities and consumers’ new needs. It is therefore unsurprising that AssoBirra’s Annual Report 2025 also highlighted substantial resilience in consumption and strong growth in the low- and no-alcohol segment: two dynamics that show a sector capable of continuously evolving alongside consumers”.

Beer as the language of conviviality

Although the places where people socialise are changing, the set of values Italians associate with beer during moments together remains strong. The conviviality is the most frequently cited value (51%followed by relaxation (47%), fun (40%), light-heartedness and simplicity (37%). The picture is completed by spontaneity (30%), quality (27%), authenticity (21%) and tradition (19%).

Overall, a picture emerges of a drink capable of fitting in naturally and becoming part of the season’s new summer rituals: not only the protagonist of special occasions, but a natural presence in everyday moments of conviviality, from impromptu dinners to meals shared around a table with friends, and on to evenings in the square and local festivals.

Generational differences confirm this interpretation. For Gen Z beer is more closely associated with fun (43%while for Millennials the relaxation aspect prevails (51%whereas for Gen X it is above all an expression of conviviality (62%) and, more than for other generations, also of quality (32%). Three different sensibilities that nevertheless converge in the same direction: beer as a facilitator of authentic moments shared with others.

Italgrob’s comment

In this context, the distribution sector’s perspective Horeca offers a complementary view of the changing out-of-home sector, with a return to occasions close to home, the enhancement of local areas and new opportunities for the channel. This perspective highlights the role of Italgrob, the Italian Federation of Horeca Distributors, as a direct interlocutor for hospitality businesses and a driving force behind initiatives and events in local areas.

“I would not speak of a genuine transformation of Italy’s out-of-home sector, so much as a rediscovery: village fairs, local festivals and neighbourhood venues represent the first beginnings of out-of-home consumption, a pre-modern Horeca sector that responds to Italians’ desire for socialising and connection with their local areas,” declares Antonio Portaccio, President of Italgrob. “There is no village fair in Italy that does not involve a distributor: the countless beer festivals that characterise the Italian summer outdoors are essentially the result of the work and commitment of distributors in their local areas”.

A role that is also confirmed as central to helping hospitality businesses move towards new consumption trends: from interpreting data on customer preferences to training, and on to the development of low- and no-alcohol beers, a segment whose growth also reflects the positioning work carried out by specialised distribution.

“The role of Horeca distribution has been and remains fundamental in turning the growth of low- and no-alcohol beers into a tangible opportunity for the channel,” concludes Portaccio. “A result built on information and training, assets that are increasingly strategic for supporting the sector during this growth phase”.

This content was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence.