Mapping Norwegian Beer Exports in the 19Th Century Siri Aanstad

A small, global adventure: mapping Norwegian beer exports in the 19th century Siri Aanstad Introduction trade will provide a basis for further analysis of this aspect of the sector's In the second half of the nineteenth development . century, Norwegian beer was sold literal- ly all over the world: the beverage could be enjoyed everywhere from China to ‘The golden decades’, 1870-1890 South Africa to Brazil. Norway thus took part in the international trade in beer in Beer exports appear in official Norwegian this period, together with the U.K., trade statistics from 1835. Figure 1 gives Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and an overview of the annual volume that the U.S.A. This trade has been little stud- was exported from this year to 1920. It ied and we have few systematic and clearly shows that exports on a significant detailed accounts of the beer exports of scale were limited to the period between individual countries. Exports from 1870 and 1890. While Norwegian beer Norway have not received any attention had found its way to foreign markets as at all, reflecting the fact that the brewing early as in the 1830s, export levels sector of this country has not previously were generally very low until 1870. This been the subject of academic study. year there was a sudden increase, to unprecedented high levels. Between This article explores nineteenth century 1868 and 1870 the annual export volume Norwegian beer exports with the aim to almost tripled, from 377,800 to 926,960 map key features of the phenomenon. It litres, and in the following two decades gives an overview of the scale and geo- exports never dropped below one million graphical scope of foreign sales, and litres per year. In some years during the discusses who the main actors were, 1870s they even exceeded two million what type of products was exported and litres, with a peak of 2.7 million in 1878. how the export business was organised. The following paper is based one an Almost equally striking as the sharp ongoing study concerning the Norwegian increase in 1870, is the drop in exports brewing industry between c.1800 and around 1890. Although there had been a c.1920, and the mapping of the export downward trend in the 1880s, 1890 Brewery History Number 131 29 3 2.5 2 1.5 Million litres 1 0.5 0 1835 1839 Figure 1. years: 1836,1837, 1839, 1840, 1842,1843 1843, 1845, 1846, 1848, 1849, 1866, 1867, 1869, 1872, 1873, 1918 Annual Norwegian beer export1847 Source. 1851 Tabeller vedkommende Norges Handel 1855 1859 1863 1867 s, 1835-1920. The figure reflect 1871 1875 1879 , 1835-1920 (trade st Years 1883 1887 s a lack of dat 1891 atistics) 1895 a for the following 1899 1903 1907 1911 1915 1919 Journal of the Brewery History Society 30 marked a clear shift to substantially lower In order to say something about the export levels. From that year to the next, significance of these levels, we must exports dropped from 1.2 to 0.8 million first see them in a broader context. For litres. By 1892 they had been more than example, how great were exports com- halved, and in the course of the next nine pared to total domestic production? And years dropped as low as to 128,000 how large were they in an international litres. And even though there was a cer- context? tain recovery in the period up to the First World War, exports at no point reached Figure 2 shows annual exports as per- more than around half a million litres, and centage share of total national production thus remained far below the levels of the of beer. We see that exports never 1870s and 1880s. accounted for more than around 7% of 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Exportsproduction as total % of 1 0 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 Year Figure 2. Exports as percentage share of total domestic output of beer, 1870-1890. The figure reflects a lack of export data for 1872 and 1873. Source. The estimates are based on annual national output figures given in Statistisk Aarbog for Kongeriget Norge for 1880 and 1917 (statistical yearbooks), and annual export figures from Tabeller vedkommende Norges Handel, 1870-1890 (trade statistics). Brewery History Number 131 31 total production. This level was reached share of total national output that the UK in the early 1870s, after which the share throughout the 1870s and 1880s. While decreased. The annual average for the we have seen that Norwegian exports on whole period was 4.6%. So, even when average accounted for 4.6% of national foreign sales were at their highest, they output, the British average was only were of significantly less importance to 1.6%.7 Foreign markets thus played a the Norwegian brewing sector as a whole relatively more important role for the than domestic sales. Norwegian brewing sector than for the British one. As for the international context, it should be noted that we lack a comprehensive There were other countries that Norway overview of the international trade in beer was on a more equal footing with in terms in the second half of the nineteenth cen- of absolute export levels. Judging from tury. We know that several countries took available data for Denmark, exports from part in this trade, including the U.K., the two Scandinavian neighbours were of Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and comparable size. Danish exports were the U.S.A.1 However, the lack of national started up in the late 1860s and had by export figures in the literature prevents us the early 1890s reached an annual from establishing the relative size of the average of 2.1 million litres.8 We lack individual countries' exports. It is clear, national figures for the previous two however, that the U.K. and Germany decades, but it is clear that Carlsberg were by far the largest actors throughout Brewery exported 8,000 barrels - which this period, with German exports taking equals 1.3 million litres - in 1885.9 Since the lead over British in the early 1880s.2 we know that the other major Danish export brewery in the nineteenth centu- It is also clear that Norway was a tiny ry, Tuborg, only started exports on a player. The U.K. on average exported significant scale after 1885,10 it seems more than 76.5 million litres beer per year reasonable to assume that Carlsberg's between 1870 and 1890.3 In comparison, exports that year more or less equalled the Norwegian average was 1.5 million total national exports. litres.4 However, the two countries were also in terms of national output in com- We have established then, that the 1870s pletely different leagues. An average of and 1880s were the ‘golden decades’ of 4.2 billion litres of beer were produced in Norwegian beer exports. And while the U.K. every year during this period,5 exports even in these two decades were compared to only 35 million litres in small compared to total domestic pro- Norway.6 The difference in national out- duction, and microscopic compared to put levels was in fact bigger than the the exports of the leading countries difference in export levels, and Norway Germany and the U.K., exports account- was exporting a substantially higher ed for a significantly higher share of 32 Journal of the Brewery History Society total national output in Norway than in the Hengel in Holland, who expressed an U.K. Norway was moreover exporting at interest in importing the brewery's beer to similar levels as Denmark, and was thus Indonesia. While this seems to have one of two Scandinavian countries that been the primary incentive to expand succeeded in establishing a position for beyond European markets, at least themselves as small-scale beer exporters three years went by before Frydenlund's in this period. overseas exports became a reality. The reason for the delay was that the brewery during the first two years of exports had Frydenlund Brewery leads the way experienced problems with the keeping onto global markets qualities of the beer, and thus wanted to develop a distinct beer that was espe- Very little information exists about the cially suited for long-distance transport markets for the earliest Norwegian beer to markets in tropical climates. This exports, but we know that the first for- process is discussed in further detail eign sales were to Copenhagen and below. The important point here is that it Hamburg. More generally, it appears that was only after Frydenlund had achieved exports up to the 1860s first and foremost a good result with the new beer - in 1865 were intended to supply Norwegian - that exports to overseas markets were sailors in European ports with their home- started up. land brew.11 It appears that it was only after The first Norwegian brewery to expand Frydenlund had made its entry into over- beyond European markets was Fryden- seas markets, that a larger number of lund. The brewery was established in Norwegian breweries became interested Oslo in 1859, and the following year a in exporting. From the overview of newspaper described it as ‘The largest of Norwegian export breweries in Table 1, all Norwegian and one of Europe's most we see that Christianssand's Brewery is significant establishments of its kind’.12 the only one we with certainty can say The size reflected that Frydenlund was started exports around the same time as founded with the intention of supplying Frydenlund.

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