Mikkeller ended 2022 with a record-breaking loss

Denmark | Since 2018, Danish microbrewery and bar company Mikkeller has been struggling to pull itself out of an existential crisis, which dragged it into the red year after year. In 2022, Bjergsø Holding, which owns the brewery, bars and restaurants, made its biggest loss ever: DKK 107 million (USD 16 million).

Over the past five years, Mikkeller’s accumulated losses totalled DKK 273 million (USD 40 million), Danish media reported.

In its 2022 financial statement, which was published recently, management called the results “unsatisfactory”.

Supermarket contracts did Mikkeller in

The brewery's earnings were hit particularly hard, when raw material and energy prices began to rise sharply during 2022. At that time, Mikkeller had already signed one-year price agreements with several supermarket chains, Mikkel Bjergsø, CEO of Mikkeller, told media.

“We simply couldn't react fast enough. We lost money on all the beers we sold last year,” he said.

According to the Denmark’s Central Business Register (CVR), Mikkel Bjergsø owns 38.66 percent of Mikkeller. The remaining stake is held by a number of foreign private equity funds.

Mikkeller fully exits the US market

In order to cut costs, the company closed its last bar in the US in April this year. Initially, Mikkeller had two bars and a brewery in San Diego, California, as well as bars in San Francisco, Los Angeles and at the New York Mets' baseball stadium in New York.

The private equity firm Orkilia from New York, which has held a stake since 2016, has injected some USD 15 million into Mikkeller so far. The latest cash injection came in February: USD 2.7 million.

This will be the last time, Mikkeller will turn to outside help, Mr Bjergsø promised. Business has already picked up nicely, he claimed, so that 2023 will be the first profitable year if things go well.

Mikkeller was established in 2003 by Mikkel Bjergsø and Kristian Keller - hence the name.