A new Olympic mythos
What kind of tourists visit Greece these days? Misers? Tee-totallers? Although inbound tourism to Greece has been on the rise over the past few years, beer consumption declined to 3.9 million hl in 2013 from 4.5 million hl in 2008 according to data published by the Brewers of Europe. In the past, thirsty tourists proved a boon to the country’s brewers. Not any longer, it seems.
That’s why it is hoped that the forecasted benefits from the merger of Olympic Brewery and Mythos Brewery will not turn into a mythos. On 18 November 2014 Carlsberg announced it is to strengthen its market position in Greece through a merger of the country’s third largest brewery, Olympic Brewery, and its own Mythos Brewery. The enlarged group will be called New Olympic Brewery and will hold a market share of 29 percent, making it Greece’s second largest brewer behind Heineken’s Athenian Brewery at 49 percent.
According to Carlsberg, Mythos currently holds a 17 percent market share, up from 11 percent in 2001. No financial details of the merger were disclosed.
Once the merger has received regulatory approval, Carlsberg will turn Greece into a junction for the production and export of products to the Eastern Mediterranean.
Olympic Brewery, located 70 km north of Athens, has proven itself a successful upstart in the Greek beer market. It was established by Ioannis Chitos, with his partners George and Elias Grekis in 2010, when they bought the former Hellenic Microbrewery and renamed it Olympic Brewery. The entrepreneurs cleverly decided to resurrect Fix, a defunct historic beer brand that many Greeks still remember fondly. It was Olympic Brewery, rather than Carlsberg’s Mythos Brewery, whose aggressive marketing of the Fix brand made Athenian Brewery’s sales decline steeply over recent years, according to Euromonitor.
Carlsberg will own 51 percent of the shares in the new company, with Olympic Brewery controlling 49 percent.
