The 2026 World Cup boosts Morocco’s beer market

After a difficult start to the year, Société des Boissons du Maroc (SBM) recorded a clear rebound between April and June. Its consolidated revenue reached 915 million dirhams in the second quarter of 2026, compared with 833 million a year earlier, representing an increase of 9.8%.

In its official statement published on 31 August with the AMMC, the group mainly attributes this acceleration to the strong performance of its local beer brands, particularly Flag Spéciale Gold and Casablanca, as well as to the start of the summer season and the 2026 World Cup.

SBM does not specify how many additional liters of beer were sold during the competition. The 9.8% increase therefore concerns its total consolidated revenue and should not be directly equated with an equivalent rise in beer volumes.

The contrast with the start of the year is nevertheless marked. The first quarter was affected by the timing of Chaâbane and Ramadan, a period traditionally unfavorable to alcohol consumption. From spring onward, followed by the arrival of summer and the World Cup in June, activity recovered strongly.

Morocco is also expecting nearly 2 billion dirhams in tax revenue from beer alone in 2026, a sign of the financial importance this market retains despite the restrictions surrounding alcohol sales in the Kingdom.

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The World Cup had already had very visible effects on consumption in Moroccan cafés. Some establishments had raised their prices by 50 to 100% to take advantage of the crowds during the matches, even provoking political reactions.

For Société des Boissons du Maroc, the effect of the competition was added to that of two brands on which the group has placed particular emphasis for several years. Flag Spéciale Gold and Casablanca are explicitly cited as the main drivers of the beer segment in the second quarter.

Moroccan beers are gaining more ground

This development comes after the split between SBM and Heineken. The Moroccan brewer had decided to strengthen its historic brands after ending its partnership with the Dutch giant, whose products still accounted for 17% of its sales in 2022.

The strategy now appears to be bearing fruit. In its 2025 results, SBM already reported growth in beer volumes driven in particular by Flag Spéciale Gold and Casablanca. The second quarter of 2026 confirms this momentum, this time with additional support from the summer season and the World Cup.

Over the first half of the year as a whole, growth was more moderate because of the weak first quarter. Consolidated revenue reached 1.234 billion dirhams, compared with 1.184 billion a year earlier, representing an increase of 4.2%. In the company accounts, sales reached 1.140 billion dirhams, up 3.8%.

Beer is no longer the group’s only area of development, however. La Cigogne lemonade continues to support its soft-drinks activity, while Alcomix beverages are also experiencing, according to SBM, favorable momentum.

The group has also finalized its 33.33% stake in Africa Retail Market, the Moroccan distributor of the Hyper U, Super U and U Express brands. The U network is simultaneously continuing its development in Morocco, notably with a large hypermarket in the Tétouan region.

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SBM invested 33 million dirhams during the first six months of the year, compared with 50 million a year earlier. The money was used mainly to replace returnable bottles and purchase refrigeration equipment intended to support commercial development.

For the second half of the year, the group plans to continue developing its brands and expanding its offering, particularly with new La Cigogne flavors. But the second quarter above all demonstrated the commercial impact of an exceptional event: according to Société des Boissons du Maroc itself, the start of the 2026 World Cup contributed to the acceleration of its activity, at a time when its Flag Spéciale Gold and Casablanca beer brands were already showing strong momentum.