Local beers at Fêno 2026

At Fêno 2026, local beers are part of the new additions, with a beer bar gathering 17 Normandy artisan breweries. The fair highlights the ongoing presence of local brewing despite a broader decline in the sector.

Decline in the brewing industry

The industry no longer experiences the same level of excitement as a few years ago. Not long ago, local beers were proliferating throughout France: one opening per day in 2019! The trend has reversed in recent years.

Brewery closures in Normandy

In May last year, the National Union of Independent Breweries announced that 500 of them had closed in two years. Jean-Luc Hanin, a historian of Normandy beer, has also observed the phenomenon in the region. "Between 2019 and 2022, there were 79 openings of breweries in Normandy; this autumn 2026, I have already counted three closures."

Festival attendance as an indicator

As an indicator, he cites the Normandy Artisan Beer Fair that he has organized for ten years in Gruchet-le-Valasse, in Seine-Maritime. "Until 2024, we had to turn people away. In 2025, we received just 50 requests. And this year, there were 48 breweries." According to him, there are still 120 breweries in Normandy after having peaked at 130.

Economic challenges for breweries

The downturn is partly explained by inflation. "Artisan beer is a luxury product," asserts Jean-Luc Hanin. "Because it is more expensive than industrial beer. When purchasing power declines, it is removed from the consumer's basket."

Impact of war and rising costs

And if energy and raw material costs have risen, artisan breweries have also been directly affected by the war in Ukraine, where one of the main suppliers of beer bottles was located. With this source having dried up, the prices of other manufacturers have increased sharply.

Challenges for small breweries

"Double-earners chose security," Marie Polidor, manager of the only artisanal malting in the region, Normandie Malt in Bayeux, confirms this. "Just after the pandemic, many people wanted to live differently. Prudently, a large part of them kept a part-time salaried job. The other half of the time, they started brewing beer."

Shift in brewing motivations

"Many brewers have been caught by the economic reality," estimates Erika Vassout, who runs the La Lie brewery with her husband François since 2008, in Saint-Rémy, between Thury-Harcourt and Clécy. She readily admits that the wave of local beer creation was driven by the product itself, "nice, festive, sexy: it made people dream of becoming a brewer."

Investment in growth

This crossroads is exactly what Marc Burgerjon, an agricultural operator in the Orne, not far from Sées aux Authieux, experienced, where he took over the family farm of 80 goats, now brought up to 130 goats and four full-time equivalents producing cheese on-site. His wife had then launched her micro-brewery during the pandemic, leaving her part-time job.

Adapting to economic pressures

But the sale of beer did not cover labor costs. "The question then arose of stopping or going further: between buying a pallet or a truck of bottles, the economies of scale are real. We chose to invest in 2024 in new equipment and a new building, which cost 600,000 euros, of which 200,000 euros in regional and European subsidies."

Diversifying business models

For Marc Burgerjon, this wave of closures of local breweries does not mean the market is saturated. "There is a form of maturity in the trade and there are still places to take even if it is difficult to compete with France Boissons" (the leader in France in beverage distribution). To consolidate their turnover, more and more breweries are becoming places of consumption, eliminating intermediaries.

Creating community spaces

This project is underway at the La Lie brewery. At the Goats' Brewery and Malt Farm, "we created a bar on the farm, open at the end of the week, with a monthly event such as a concert. It is an activity that is doing rather well." And which brings social life to rural areas.