New plants in focus: Royal Grolsch, Enschede/NL Scandinavian flair and Grolsch quality

The new Grolsch brewery plant in Enschede/Netherlands marks a milestone in the 400-year history of the Group. Designed for growth, the modern complex represents a thoroughly planned concept in terms of equipment, technology and architecture. Product quality and flexibility integrate with the environmental requirements and corporate philosophy.

On 7 April 2004 the new brewing facility of Royal Grolsch N.V. was put into operation in a ceremony in front of 1600 guests from the Netherlands and abroad, indeed an outstanding event in the 400 years history of the brewery. The new brewery replaces the plants in Groenlo and Enschede-North, which had been producing Grolsch from 1615 and 1895 respectively. The total investment was 277 million EUR. The area is 25 ha.2 million hl. Leo A.V..

Bitter end

In an effort to increase efficiency, Interbrew UK will not only close the Belfast Brewery (as reported) but also Manchester’s famous Boddingtons Brewery, home of the Boddingtons brand, and shift production to other breweries in Lancashire, Wales and Scotland. The brewery will shut in 2005 with the loss of 55 jobs as production switches to Samlesbury, Lancashire, Magor, south Wales, and Glasgow.
Interbrew said it was moving production of non-cask beers, such as Boddingtons Draught nitrokeg and Gold Label Strong Ale, to other sites to cut distribution costs. Non-cask beers make up 90 percent of production at the former Strangeways brewery (named after a nearby prison) in Manchester. Interestingly, Interbrew owns neither the one nor the other brewery..

On Bassa Selim’s west-eastern divan Turkey’s beverage market

In December EU leaders must decide at a summit meeting if the European Union should open membership talks with Turkey early next year. Orient or occident, Islam or secularism, market control or liberalism - even Raki or beer, Coke or Cola Turka: In the current debate over why Europe should say yes to Turkey, many seemingly disparate issues suddenly acquire political significance.

Scottish orchestra with an American conductor, Turkish singers and a Swiss-born actor performing an opera sung in German at Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace before an audience of Turkish music lovers: In our days of globalisation multicultural musical productions, which bring together artists from all over the world, are quite the norm. This production, however, begged to differ. He sets the four lovers free. .

Pubs clean up their act

British publicans are worried that a ban on smoking could have a negative effect on their business. In September, therefore, five of the biggest pub groups introduced a partial smoking ban in their outlets. The companies, which between them control a third of Britain’s 60,000 pubs, have committed themselves to banning smoking at the bar by 2006 and to make 80 percent of their customer space smoke-free by 2009. The Irish example - Ireland introduced a ban on smoking in March - has shown that both cigarette sales and pub trade will plummet after a ban on smoking is implemented. In the six months following the introduction of the ban, pub sales in Ireland have fallen 15 percent. Ireland’s smoking ban has also had a marked effect on tax revenues. It would cost the UK economy GBP3..

Consolidation on the Balkans

Efes Breweries International N.V. ("EBI"), the Holland based subsidiary of Anadolu Efes, which is soon to float on the London Stock Exchange, completed its acquisition of the 7 Septambar A.D. Zajecar Brewery ("Zajecar") located in Zajecar, Serbia-Montenegro and purchased a 64.4 percent stake through a tender offer. According to a corporate statement, this deal makes EBI the third largest brewer in Serbia-Montenegro - a beer market in which Interbrew, Heineken and Carlsberg in 2003 controlled a total of 70 percent.
Valued at a total of EUR18.5 million, EBI paid EUR12 million for the 64.4 percent stake.
The Zajecar Brewery has a brewing capacity of one million hl and produces the Pils Plus and Zajecarsko brands. Last year it sold 440,000 hl of beer.3 million hl..

From the low lands with love

Exports of Dutch beer reached a record of 14.3 million hl in 2003, up from 14.2 million hl a year earlier according to figures released by the Dutch Central Bureau for Statistics. The U.S. is by far the biggest export market for Dutch beer, where seven million hl of beer where shipped in 2003. Domestic consumption has continued to fall, dropping to 78.8 l per capita from 79.9 l in 2002. Beer consumption has been declining steadily since 1990 when per capita consumption stood at 91 l per year.

Viking Malt opens new malting

Viking Malt, with its operative centre in Lahti, Finland, has officially opened its new malting in Panevezys/Lithuania on 26 August 2004.
In addition to the new maltings of 60,000 tonnes annual capacity, the investment includes
- modernization of barley intake
- new silo capacity for malting barley
- modernization of the existing silo for malt storage and malt deliveries
- possibility to easily increase capacity up to 120,000 tonnes
The value of the investment is around EUR28 million.
With this new production unit, together with the almost finished construction of a second malting house in Halmstad, Sweden, Viking Malt will have a total annual malt capacity of 340.000 tonnes.
- There is space enough on the site for additional expansions in the future..

Heineken continues spending spree in Germany

In October, Heineken and its German joint venture partner Schörghuber (hotels, real estate, brewing) bought a brewery in southern Germany. That put an end to rumours which had gone round throughout spring and summer that Heineken and Schörghuber, partners in Brau Holding International (BHI) - a joint-venture between Heineken (49.9%) and Schörghuber Corporate Group (50.1%) - had fallen out with each other. While many still wondered who would buy out whom, BHI announced that it had acquired 100 percent of the shares of Fürstlich Fürstenbergische Brauerei (Fürstenberg Brewery). As agreed by both parties the acquisition price will not be published. However, market observers reckon that Heineken and Schörghuber paid between EUR80 million and EUR120 million. That goal was never attained..

Bottoms up for the EU

Czech brewers greeted the accession into the European Union with half a litre of cautious optimism writes Lyle Frink in Prague. Accession into the EU had already led to Value-Added Taxes on gastronomy services being hiked from 5 percent to 19 percent, to say nothing about increased sanitary standards for pubs and restaurants. But beyond the internal preparations, EU membership lowered customs barriers for outward sales. And in the Czech Republic, where beer exports make up about 9 percent of all production, access to outside markets is crucial.

Nearby markets of "E-10" members

"We think this will open the gate to more exports," said Jan Vesely, head of the Czech Association of Brewers.
Just the rate alone fails to explain the difficulties faced by importers. ...

North Star: Merlin brewhouse from Hartwall defines new standards

The Finnish Hartwall Group consistently chooses the latest technologies for its brewing site in Lahti. This applies equally to the production, the filling plant and the warehouse. The brewhouse in particular reflects this philosophy and defines new standards for wort boiling. This article reports on the experiences made with this largest Merlin brewhouse in Europe up to now.

The heart of the plant, with its diameter of eight metres, is the largest Merlin® in Europe up to now. Merlin would make it possible to achieve the highest wort qualities with merely about half the energy consumption of a conventional boiling plant, forecast Jorma Rasi, responsible at Hartwall for the area Research and Development, on the occasion of the awarding of the contract...