E-Malt.com News article: 4116

Germany, Berlin: German food company Dr Oetker is planning to close one of Berlin's oldest breweries, the Kindl, and a brewery in Dortmund, western Germany, Brinkhoff, as part of new cost-cutting measures. “Two of Germany's leading breweries are to close because of a trend to healthy living that has seen mineral water sales overtake beer consumption in Germany,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH commented.

The Kindl, the home of Berliner Kindl beer, is located in the Neukölln district in the southwest of the German capital. It is closing its doors after more than 130 years in business. A spokesman for the company said Dr Oetker was planning to transfer production of Berliner Kindl at the Schultheiss brewery in Berlin.

Brinkhoff production will move next year to Oetker's DAB brewery in Dortmund. Ulrich Kallmeyer, head of Oetker's beer division, said an unfinished office complex for Brau und Brunnen in Dortmund would be sold as it was not needed.

The group said it would invest 50 million euros (65 million dollars) in modernization while eliminating jobs.

Dortmund is Germany's main beer-exporting centre, and Brinkhoff's No. 1 has been built up in recent years into a national brand. Beer from the capital city's 130-year-old Kindl brewery is also sold nationwide.

The move is aimed at helping Dr Oetker cut up to 450 jobs as beer consumption in Germany declines, the company said. According to the Federal Statistics Office, beer sales in Germany continued to decline last year, consolidating a trend that has surfaced over the last decade. Once dubbed "the champagne of the north," Berliner Kindl is now a beverage of preference among construction workers. The beer has been described by one connoisseur as having a "citrusy nose" and being slightly "skunky."

The German Brewers' Federation says Germany has 1,270 breweries, many of them small family-run concerns that face takeover or closure as the shrinking market heats up competition. This is the first time two major breweries have been shut. Last month, the German mineral water federation VDM said per capita consumption of bottled water last year was 123 litres, well ahead of the 117 litres of beer consumed by the average German.

Bielefeld-based Dr. Oetker is named after its pharmacist founder who became a millionaire by selling baking powder and recipe books. A Century later, his heirs have expanded the business into beer, pizza and other ready-to-consume supermarket products. Family-owned Oetker took over brewing group Brau und Brunnen (BuB) a year ago, determined to make it more profitable by integrating it with Oetker's existing Radeberger beer division while keeping up 40 labels.


02 February, 2005