Obituary: Margarethe Fuchs, matriarch of the Forst brewery died 8 December 2015, aged 97
She was a force to be reckoned with. Margarethe Fuchs, who was actually a brewer by training at a time when few women would consider such a job, not only managed to defend the Forst brewery’s home turf in South Tyrolia, she also made sure that Forst to this day remains one of the few privately-owned breweries in Italy.
Founded in the Foresta (Forst in German) in South Tyrolia in 1857, the company passed into the hands of Joseph Fuchs a few years later. Fast forward 150 years and the family still runs the company, with Mrs Fuchs having established an impressive matriarchal rule which has since extended to her daughter and granddaughter.
Born in Innsbruck in 1918, Mrs Fuchs for decades has left her imprint on Forst, first as the wife of owner Luis Fuchs and subsequently as President of Forst after the death of her husband in 1989. At the time the brand had already increased its sales, thanks to expanding beyond its home market. Today the Forst beer brand is available all over Italy, though still strongly tied to its origins and local culture.
In recent years Mrs Fuchs relinquished her executive role to her daughter Margherita Fuchs von Mannstein. But people who knew her well say that she kept an active interest in the business as eminence grise, who would keep a close eye on the goings-on from her living quarters inside the brewery.
Locals have described Mrs Fuchs as generous but as equally strong-willed and combative. She could be imperious too. When a bar in nearby Bolzano decided to sell German beer instead of Forst, some remember that she paid the place a visit and took out her brolly to sweep glasses and ashtrays off the tables. She had made her point.
Forst together with its subsidiary, the Menabrea brewery, sells an estimated 700,000 hl beer in a market dominated by SABMiller (Peroni), Heineken (Moretti), AB-InBev (imports) and Carlsberg (Poretti) with a combined market share of 64 percent.
On 8 January 2016 Forst held a very moving commemorative service for Mrs Fuchs which was attended by more than 500 people.
