Eurozone Inflation Picks Up Pace in Blow to Rate-Cut Hopes

Inflation unexpectedly heated up in the eurozone this month, presenting a fresh challenge to policymakers looking for signs that eurozone price rises are easing sustainably.

Consumer prices were 2.6% higher on year in July, picking up pace from in June, according to EU figures released Wednesday. That defied economists’ expectations for a slight decrease in inflation over the month, and leaves the rate further from the European Central Bank’s elusive 2% target. Inflation heated up over the month in Germany, France and Italy, the eurozone’s three largest economies.

Core inflation, which strips out the often volatile effects of food and energy prices, meanwhile stayed stable, against expectations for a slight decrease. But services, a key focus for policymakers at the European Central Bank, did fall slightly.

That decline makes a cut to interest rates the most likely outcome in September, said Franziska Palmas, an economist at Capital Economics.

Still, the higher headline rate may give pause to the central bank as it mulls its next steps on the direction of interest rates in the 20-member eurozone.

The ECB cut interest rates in the currency union for the first time in five years last month, but has refused to be drawn on when and how quickly it will continue to lower rates from their current heights. Markets still expect a second cut to rates at the bank’s next policy meeting in September, but with less certainty than earlier in the summer.

“Until services inflation falls more significantly, the ECB is likely to continue to ease policy only slowly,” Palmas said.

Private-equity firm Paine Schwartz Partners is backing BERO, a nonalcoholic beer brand launched by British actor and “Spider-Man” star Tom Holland.

A person familiar with the transaction said it values New York-based BERO at more than $100 million and will help support the brand’s ambitious growth plans.

BERO co-founder and Chief Executive John Herman said the company aims to more than double its sales team and significantly expand distribution to roughly triple sales this year.

BERO, which Holland and Herman launched in late 2024, reached nearly $10 million in sales in its first year and expects sales to reach almost $30 million this year, said Herman, who previously served as president of C4 Energy brand drink maker Nutrabolt.

“We weren’t just looking for capital,” Herman said. “We were looking for great partners that could help us grow.”

Paine Schwartz is investing through BetterCo Holdings, a portfolio company in the firm’s sixth flagship fund that it formed late last year to hold non-control investments in better-for-you food and beverage businesses, Paine Schwartz CEO Kevin Schwartz said.

Ultimately, Schwartz said he expects BetterCo to hold five to 10 investments.

BERO, BetterCo’s third investment, falls within the firm’s typical growth investment range of $10 million to $25 million, he said.

Earlier BERO backers include leading talent agency William Morris Endeavor Entertainment and venture-capital firm Imaginary Ventures, which also participated in the latest investment.

“This first external raise is not just a milestone, but a validation of what’s been achieved in a single year,” said Logan Langberg, a partner at Imaginary Ventures.

When they started BERO, Holland and Herman tapped as brewmaster Grant Wood, a past Boston Beer executive who went on to found Revolver Brewing, now part of Tilray Brands.

The brand currently offers four types of beer, including two IPAs. Its products are sold at Target stores, on Amazon.com and at other retail locations, such as supermarket chains Sprouts Farmers Market and Wegmans Food Markets in the U.S. and Morrisons in the U.K. BERO is also available at a number of liquor stores and bars and restaurants.

The company also offers a $55 a year premium membership that offers such perks as free shipping and access to member-only products and limited-edition releases.

To help build the brand’s name, BERO has struck a series of partnerships, becoming the official nonalcoholic beer partner of luxury sports-car maker Aston Martin and fitness studio chain Barry’s.

Nonalcoholic beers, which generally contain less than 0.5% of alcohol by volume, have become increasingly popular and account for the biggest share of alcohol-free drink sales, according to the Beer Institute, a national trade association.

Sales of such drinks are growing at a more than 20% annual rate and were expected to exceed $1 billion in 2025, according to market-research firm NielsenIQ, citing so-called off-premise channel sales it tracks, such as sales at liquor stores and grocery stores. But the bulk of those sales come from the top five brands, such as Athletic Brewing, co-founded by a former trader at Steve Cohen’s hedge fund Point72 Asset Management, NielsenIQ said.

Alcohol-free drinks, the market-research firm said, have emerged as a lifestyle choice—one based not on quitting alcohol but expanding options, with most non-alcohol buyers also buying alcoholic drinks.

“There’s a pendular swing in behaviours that [is] happening right now when it comes to people’s relationship with alcohol,” Herman said.

Corrections & Amplifications undefined Nonalcoholic beer brand BERO offers its fans a premium membership for $55 a year. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the membership costs $50. (Corrected on Jan. 20.)

Eurozone Inflation Picks Up Pace in Blow to Rate-Cut Hopes

Consumer prices were 2.6% higher on year in July, picking up pace from 2.5% in June

Paine Schwartz joins BERO as a new investor as the year-old company seeks to triple sales.