Heineken to close two breweries

Heineken, the Czech Republic’s number three brewer, said on 15 June that it would close two breweries, Kutna Hora and Znojmo.

Having acquired the Krusovice brewery (2007) and the Drinks Union breweries (2008), Heineken’s market share rose to 12 percent last year and the number of breweries Heineken runs in the Czech Republic to seven.

Although the Czech drink a lot of beer and take great pride in their beer culture, running seven breweries while producing about 2 million hl beer was deemed excessive even by the most benevolent observers.

Now Heineken said that the Kutna Hora brewery (formerly Drinks Union) and the Znojmo brewery (formerly Starobrno) would be closing, which will bring the number of breweries Heineken still operates in the Czech Republic down to five.

About 35 employees are at risk of redundancy -- 17 from Kutna Hora and 18 from Znojmo. However, up to 17 employees from Znojmo and up to 15 from Kutna Hora would likely be transferred to other sites, Heineken said.

Heineken also said the savings made from the closures would be included in its total cost management programme, a three-year cost-cutting programme launched at the start of this year.

The 35 families affected by the job losses will be glad to hear that.