UK rations beer as Europe runs short of CO2

– It’s peak season for bars and barbecues in Europe as a summer heatwave coincides with the World Cup on TV. So probably not the best time for drinks companies to be running out of the gas that puts the fizz into beer and sodas.

A shortage of industrial carbon dioxide (CO2) is also affecting meat producers and food companies that rely on dry ice as a refrigerant.

Ice cream is another item at risk, just as temperatures breach 300C in parts of northern Europe, along with pork and poultry.

London

In Britain – hit worst by the CO2 supply problem – one major supplier of drinks to pubs and restaurants is rationing sales.

Booker, owned by supermarket giant Tesco, said it was restricting its wholesale customers to 10 cases of beer, and five of cider or soft drinks.

Supermarket chain Morrisons and online food seller Ocado warned customers of disruption to some frozen product lines.

Petter Nome, director of the Norwegian brewers’ association, said his members badly needed replenishing with the gas.

“If brewers don’t get any more supplies (of CO2) by the weekend, they’ll be really struggling,” he told the broadcaster NRK.

Dutch brewing group Heineken said it was working “24/7” to meet surging demand during the balmy weather and the football tournament, by sourcing CO2 from across its European network.

But Wetherspoon, one of Britain’s leading pub chains, said it was temporarily running dry of two mainstays of the Heineken family – John Smith’s bitter and Strongbow cider.

Coca-Cola’s British arm said it was “currently responding to an industry-wide issue that is impacting the supply of CO2 in the UK” by temporarily pausing some of its drinks production lines for short periods. It stressed there was no disruption to supply.

In Berlin, Amazon Fresh has stopped offering ice cream and frozen pizza for delivery because the company is short of dry ice.

The shortage was first revealed by trade journal Gas World, which reported it as the “worst supply situation to hit the European carbon dioxide business in decades”. –