Carlsberg rumoured to sell another brewery

With the so-called “fighter brands” (like Adelskrone, Schlosspils, Silberkrone, van Raven) having been sold to the Oettinger Group as part of the Braunschweig brewery sale, market observers in Germany think that Carlsberg will next sell its regional brands such as Feldschlösschen, Moravia, Grenzquell and Lüneburger Pilsener in order to focus on its major brands Carlsberg, Holsten Pilsener, Astra, Duckstein and Lübz.

But who is going to take these under-performing regional brands off Mr Burgard’s hands? German beer consumption in 2009 is expected to drop 5 percent or more.

This has made people worry about the future of the Dresden brewery where Carlsberg produces the Feldschlösschen brand. If Mr Burgard cannot find a “partner” – his preferred turn of phrase – for these brands, who is also willing to keep on producing them at Dresden brewery, which future does the brewery have?

In late November 2009, Mr Burgard announced that he will cut Carlsberg’s German workforce – 1200 – by 5 percent. 64 jobs will have to go at its breweries in Hamburg, Lübz and Dresden. In Hamburg, where Carlsberg owns the Holsten brewery and employs more than 700 people, 25 jobs will go: 18 in administration and 7 in production, it was reported.