Karlsberg Holding

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Karlsberg Holding GmbH

logo
legal form GmbH
founding 1878 (Karlsberg Brewery)
Seat Homburg , Saarland
management Richard Weber , Christian Weber, Udo Helfgen, Martin Adam, Peter Zorn
Number of employees 1,275
sales 416.5 million euros
Branch Beverage production
Website www.karlsberg.de
As of December 31, 2018

View of older parts of the brewery on Karlsbergstrasse in Homburg

The Karlsberg Holding GmbH in Homburg is the parent company of the Karlsberg Group for which arose from the same brewery, in addition to the production of beer - and beer mixtures is active in the areas of Getränkevertriebs well as the transport and event services. The core area of ​​the company is the Karlsberg brewery founded by Christian Weber in Homburg in 1878 , from which today's corporate group emerged through various takeovers and spin-offs.

Advertisement with the garden gnome Hansi UrPils (2004)

Structure and direction

The Karlsberg Holding GmbH (also called Karlsberg called) is the parent company of the group, which directly and indirectly investments in the operating companies in the group such. B. holds the Karlsberg Brauerei GmbH , the French subsidiaries in Saverne , various sales subsidiaries and Mineralbrunnen Überkingen-Teinach GmbH & Co. KGaA .

The management of the holding consists of Richard Weber , Christian Weber, Udo Helfgen, Martin Adam, Peter Zorn. The Karlsberg Brewery is managed by Christian Weber as General Manager and Markus Meyer as Managing Director. The long-standing company boss Richard Weber was President of the German Brewers Association until July 2008 .

Company size

Karlsberg Brauerei GmbH in Homburg employs around 328 people (as of December 31, 2015). The number of employees at Karlsberg Holding is 500 in Homburg and 1750 in total (as of 2012). The holding company employed 1,100 people in Germany in 2009 (including the employees of the sales subsidiary Vendis), of which around 700 were at the headquarters in Homburg. According to other information, the total number of employees (presumably including abroad) in 2009 was 2,200.

Sales fell to around 296 million euros in 2008, after 310 million euros in 2007. Karlsberg's beer output in 2008 was 3.5 million hectoliters, 450,000 hectoliters of which fell on Mixery. The turnover of Karlsberg Brauerei GmbH alone was € 174 million in 2015.

activities

Beer segment Germany and France

Karlsberg Brauerei GmbH looks after the beer segment in Germany. This also includes Vendis Getränke GmbH & Co. KG and Vendis Gastro GmbH & Co. KG (both in Neunkirchen), GFGH Kooperations- und Handels GmbH (Homburg) and Karlsberg Logistik Service GmbH (Homburg).

Brasserie Karlsberg Holding SA is responsible for France . This includes the Brasserie Licorne SAS (in Saverne ), which sells its brands through the Karlsbräu CHR SAS.

Soft drinks and non-beverage

Karlsberg Holding GmbH includes the entire segment of non-alcoholic beverages including the holdings in Mineralbrunnen Überkingen-Teinach (including its subsidiary Tucano Holding , a fruit juice manufacturer), the fruit juice segment and the service, convenience and wellness area of ​​the Karlsberg Group: Erwin Dietz GmbH ( Osterburken ), Gesundbrunnen Bad Rilchingen GmbH & Co. KG ( Bad Rilchingen ) and Karlsberg Institute of Bioscience GmbH & Co. KG (Homburg).

In addition to the property management companies belonging to the Group, the Non Beverage division also includes Fascination Food Tiefkühlkost-Zentrale GmbH in St. Ingbert .

Products

Urpils in Stubbi Bottle (2018)

The Karlsberg MiXery, introduced in 1996, is one of the brewery's product innovations . It was the first mixed beer drink made from cola and beer on the German market. Karlsberg is still the market leader today . Also in 1996, Karlsberg introduced Desperados (tequila-flavored beer) on the German market. Sales went to Heineken Germany in January 2010 .

The former Karlsberg Brauerei KG Weber (today: Karlsberg Brauerei GmbH) achieved around 50% of its sales with beer, its original core business, in the 2004/2005 financial year. This development corresponds to the plan, which has been aimed for since 1994, to establish a mainstay in the market for non-alcoholic beverages in addition to the pure beer business.

beers

Trier Löwenbräu, logo

In addition to Karlsberg UrPils ( Pils ), which the brewery advertises as a premium brand, Karlsberg produces around 20 other beers, including Export , Helles , Pils, Kellerbier ( Zischke ), Starkbier ( Karlsberg Bock ) and various wheat beers . Beers are also sold locally under the name of breweries that have been taken over, for example Becker's Pils and Trier Löwenbräu .

Alcohol-free beer

Alcohol-free beer is produced under the Gründel's brand . Fitmalz is a malt beer . Karlsberg was also a member of the Vitamalz association until Krombacher took over Vitamalz production alone .

Mixed beer beverages

Karlsberg produces a wide range of mixed beer beverages. For example, mixed drinks with the flavors cola, lemon, cherry, apple, tequila flavor and iced flavor are offered, as is a shandy .

The brewery achieved its national breakthrough with the trendy drink MiXery , a mixture of beer and cola and another secret additive called "X", which is more likely to be understood as a marketing gimmick. MiXery was the first mixed beer drink of its kind on the national and international market and is still the market leader .

Non-alcoholic mixed beer beverages

A non-alcoholic shandy and a mix called Gründel's Fresh with apple juice are produced under the Gründel's brand .

Fruit juices

In 2004, Karlsberg consolidated its position in the juice market through the merger of several group-owned and previously separately operating fruit juice manufacturers to form Tucano Vertriebs GmbH & Co. KG , later converted into Niehoffs Vaihinger Fruchtsaft GmbH. In the Tucano-Holding, whose brands also include Merziger , the Karlsberg Brewery KG Weber held 75% and Friedrich Niehoff with 25% until December 31, 2007. With effect from January 1, 2008, the company was sold to Mineralbrunnen Überkingen-Teinach KGaA, which is majority owned by Karlsberg .

From 1999 to 2014 the fruit juice manufacturer Erwin Dietz GmbH in Osterburken was also part of the Karlsberg Group.

Mineral water and sodas

Karlsberg has a share of 43.32% in Mineralbrunnen Überkingen-Teinach in Bad Teinach-Zavelstein . This produces mineral water , still water, medicinal water and other non-alcoholic water-based drinks. Until 2020, Karlsberg also included Gesundbrunnen Bad Rilchingen GmbH in Rilchingen-Hanweiler , which produces mineral water.

other activities

In addition to the beverage segment, the Karlsberg group of companies also serves the areas of logistics (including Saverne Transports SARL and Karlsberg Logistik Service GmbH, as well as beverage and food wholesalers and retailers, including Vendis Getränke GmbH & Co. KG and Fascination Food Tiefkühlkost-Zentrale GmbH). The brewery also organizes several public festivals such as the Karlsberg Bockbierfest and the Homburger Braunacht.

Company history

Historic bottle of the Karlsberg brewery.

The website of the Karlsberg Brewery was used as the source for the following historical information, unless otherwise stated.

1878 to 1899

The Karlsberg Brewery was founded in 1878 under the name Bayerische Bierbrauerei zum Karlsberg by the local merchant and grocer Christian Weber. At that time the Saarpfalz was part of the Palatinate (Bavaria) . The brewery was named after the former palace complex Schloss Karlsberg near today's brewery. The merchant acquired the brewing equipment, wells and real estate from the auction of the bankrupt Jacoby brewery.

In view of the strong growth of the brewery, it was necessary to move to the outskirts of Homburg in 1884. A new brewery and other new buildings and conversions made higher production volumes possible. With the construction of an ice machine in 1896, year-round cooling of beer products became possible. In 1897 the Bayerische Bierbrauerei zum Karlsberg was converted into a stock corporation with a share capital of 1.1 million marks. Christian Weber held 98 percent of the shares. An inventory from the previous year shows: Within only 18 years of its founding, Christian Weber has multiplied the value of the brewery by investing in facilities, inventory and real estate. In 1898 the brewery had a capacity of 90,000 hectoliters per year.

1900 to 1929

With the expansion of capacity, the brewery's sales area grew significantly: In addition to coal and industrial regions in Saarland, Karlsbräu also found regular customers in the Palatinate, Lorraine and Luxembourg . The brewery bought its own railway wagons to handle the transport. The first motorized truck increased the sales radius in 1910. In the same year Richard Weber (1897–1946), son of the company founder, took over the management of the brewery. At that time, Karlsberg was among the 180 largest German breweries.

Despite unfavorable sales conditions - including the Treaty of Versailles in 1918, which resulted in markets in Lorraine, Luxembourg and the Palatinate collapsing - the brewery continued to grow. For the company's 50th anniversary in 1928, the Christian Weber Foundation was set up to help employees in social emergencies.

1930 to 1949

After acquiring further properties and extensive investments in production, including the construction of a new high-rise brewery in Karlsbergstrasse, the brewery achieved steadily growing beer output. In 1937 the stock corporation was converted into a limited partnership with a personally liable partner. Richard Weber became the sole managing partner, and in 1942 Paul Weber joined the Karlsberg Brewery as an authorized signatory. The Second World War ended with the loss of numerous employees and the complete destruction of the brewery.

1950 to 1960

After the war, the Saarland was economically attached to France. The brewery quickly opened up new sales channels in the neighboring country. When it comes to exports, Karlsberg benefited from the special political position of the Saarland: The variety of brands was expanded. Among other things through the acquisition of the well-known brand name Walsheim in France . In addition, Karlsberg began in 1953 as the first brewery with a German-French catchment area to produce beer in beverage cans (0.35 liters). The sales volume increased from around 70,000 hl in the previous year to 250,000 hl .

After a court settlement with the Danish Carlsberg brewery , Karlsberg undertook to use the name Karlsbräu for the export business in 1956 in order to avoid confusion . In the following years the name Walsheim was replaced by Karlsbräu in France and other export countries. Investments in production doubled the brewery's capacity to a total production volume of more than 500,000 hl. In the second referendum in 1955, the Saarlanders decided to join the Federal Republic of Germany. At the same time, Karlsberg increased its sales activities in direct sales: As a “Saarland's good star”, the company gained a dominant position on the domestic market. In 1957 the company brewed Karlsberg Feingold , a finely hopped pilsner, for the first time .

1961 to 1980

From 1962 Paul Weber ran the brewery as managing partner. With the expansion of the range to include soft drinks such as Sinalco Cola and Rilchinger mineral water, Karlsberg strengthened its position. In addition to the Saarland and the Palatinate, parts of Hesse , Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia were supplied with a comprehensive tour system with several specialist sales branches. In 1968, Karlsberg was one of the very first breweries to introduce IT management.

In 1970, Karlsberg launched Karlsberg UrPils, a new pilsner with a tart and fresh note. After further increases in capacity, the production volume rose to over 1,000,000 hl per year in 1974. The Karlsberg Brewery celebrated its hundredth birthday in 1978 with great public sympathy. In 1980, Karlsberg was the first German brewery to introduce the contribution margin calculation as a control instrument for sales success.

1983 to 1999

Richard Weber took over from his father in 1983 and became managing partner. Before that, he headed the brewery's export department for many years. Among other things, he was responsible for establishing his own sales organizations in France and Italy. With the Coca-Cola concessionaire OKKO Getränke GmbH and the majority stake in Saarfürst Brauerei GmbH in Merzig, Karlsberg consolidated its position in the home market at the beginning of the 80s. The brands Schloss , Löwen and Becker in Germany as well as the Brasserie Saverne and the Amos Brewery in France joined the growing Karlsberg group of companies . In the meantime, Karlsberg has grown to become the fifth largest export brewery in Germany.

With Gründel's non-alcoholic , the brewery developed a Pils beer in the early 1990s, from which the alcohol was gently removed after the brewing process. The innovation in the beer market contributed to the growth of the brewery between the 80s and 90s. In 1992, Karlsberg acquired the Königsbacher brewery near Koblenz , a regional brand with a tradition going back more than 300 years. With the French logistics company Saverne Transports and vending machine service provider ServiPlus, the Karlsberg Brewery increased its customer proximity: Karlsberg supported the business idea of ​​former OKKO employees from the start. Within a few years, the beverage and snack vending machine business was expanded in Germany, France and the Benelux countries.

2000 until today

In 2002 the brewery's beer output was around four million hectoliters . In the following year 3.7 million hectoliters of Karlsberg were brewed in Germany alone. In 2003 the traditional company celebrated its 125th anniversary.

In 2003, Brau Holding International (BHI), a joint venture between the Dutch brewing group Heineken and the German Schörghuber Group , took a 45 percent stake in Karlsberg International Brand GmbH, a subsidiary of Karlsberg Brauerei KG Weber.

On June 25, 2009 it was agreed that Karlsberg Holding should take over the 45% stake in BHI itself. A partnership remained in the distribution of the Pschorr-Bräu and Heineken brands . Since then, Karlsberg has been completely family-owned again. In August 2010 Christian Weber, the son of Richard Weber, took over the management of Karsberg Brauerei GmbH as general representative.

In January 2013, the company took 399th place in the ranking of the 500 largest family businesses in the Wirtschaftsblatt magazine .

Karlsberg has been selling the beers of the Bischoff private brewery in Winnweiler since 2014 .

At the beginning of 2020, Karlsberg announced that it wanted to sell both Gesundbrunnen Bad Rilchingen GmbH and its activities in France

List of acquisitions

In the past, various independent breweries were bought up and integrated into the Karlsberg Group. B .:

Germany

  • 1989: Becker Brewery in St. Ingbert , production in St. Ingbert from 1877 to 1997. Becker's Pils is still produced.
    The Saarlouis- based Donnerbräu GmbH , identical to Donnerbrauerei, from 1898 to 1978 also belonged to the Becker brewery .
  • Private brewery Emrich in Kusel - until 1998 - production stopped.
  • Gross brewery in Riegelsberg - 1882 to 1997 - production stopped.
  • Königsbacher Brewery in Koblenz - since 1689
    In 1992 the Königsbacher Brewery was incorporated into the corporate association of the Karlsberg breweries. The trademark rights of Königsbacher and Nette Pils were sold to the Bitburger brewery on January 1, 2010 . However, the Koblenz brewery remained with Karlsberg. To compensate for the discontinued own brand, beers were to be brewed and bottled there that were previously produced in the Karlsberg Brewery in Saverne. On January 1, 2012, Karlsberg sold the brewery to private investors from Koblenz.
  • Löwenbrauerei in Trier - production stopped. Löwenbräu will continue to be produced.
  • Ottweiler brewery in Ottweiler - production stopped.
  • Paqué brewery in St. Wendel - production stopped.
  • Saarfürst brewery (formerly Actienbrauerei Merzig) in Merzig - 1864 to 1987 - production stopped.
  • Castle brewery in Neunkirchen - 1838 to 1997 - production stopped.
  • Walsheim brewery in Walsheim (no complete takeover of the brewery, only takeover of the trademark rights)

France

Some of the brands of these breweries are continued with individual specialty beers (e.g. Becker's Extra , Saarfürst Biereiche ), but the local brewing operations - with the exception of Koblenz and Saverne - have mostly been discontinued. Some of the beer brands taken over are sold as cheap brands in the range of various discounters .

marketing

The Karlsberg West Stand in the
Fritz Walter Stadium in Kaiserslautern

For its marketing strategy with reference to regional peculiarities and the inclusion of regional language peculiarities (example: Hansi UrPils? ), The brewery was honored in 2012 by the German Language Association for its linguistically successful advertising.

Karlsberg sponsors numerous associations as well as numerous cultural events, festivals and concerts in the region. Since the early 1960s, the brewery has relied on sports sponsorship, including through cooperation with the Saarland Football Association , sponsorship of the Karlsberg League Saarland (previously Saarland League ) and sponsorship of the football clubs 1. FC Kaiserslautern (1979-2018, main sponsor 1984 –1987), 1. FC Saarbrücken (until 2010) and FC 08 Homburg (since the early 1970s).

Web links

Commons : Karlsberg Brewery  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b c Dr. Hans-Georg Eils is retiring , press release from Karsberg Holding GmbH from March 13, 2018
  2. a b Published consolidated financial statements on bundesanzeiger.de
  3. ^ Website of the Karlsberg Association
  4. a b Annual financial statements 2015 of the Karlsberg Brewery (PDF, 3.5 MB) ( Memento of the original from November 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed November 14, 2016 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.karlsberg.de
  5. The Karlsberg Brewery - an innovative brewery with tradition  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Just P&I, the P&I AG magazine for HR experts , issue 2-2012@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.pi-ag.com  
  6. a b HOMBURG: Karlsberg Brewery buys back company shares from BHI ( Memento from July 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Report from June 24, 2009 on globalmalt.de
  7. Homburger Karlsberg Brewery wants to cut jobs ( Memento from October 26th, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), press release of the Karlsberg Brewery from October 22nd, 2009 on the Saarpresseportal
  8. New varieties from KARLSBERG MiXery received a BESTSELLER Award ( Memento of the original from January 2, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed January 2, 2017 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.getraenke-star.de
  9. Pole position: MiXery number one in the mixed beer market ( memento of the original from January 2, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Press article by the Karlsberg Brewery on February 10, 2015 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / newsroom.karlsberg-verbund.de
  10. Karlsberg History ( Memento of the original from October 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Website of the Karlsberg Brewery, accessed on October 11, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.karlsberg.de
  11. Karlsberg is master of the house again , Pfälzischer Merkur from June 26, 2009
  12. BHI: Returns share to Karlsberg  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , LebensmittelZeitung.net of June 26, 2009@1@ 2Template: dead link / jobs.lebensmittelzeitung.net  
  13. Top 500 - The largest family businesses in Germany (PDF; 307 kB). In: Wirtschaftsblatt 1/13
  14. Karlsberg takes over sales and marketing for the Palatinate private brewery Bischoff ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Saarbrücker Zeitung of August 3, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.saarbruecker-zeitung.de
  15. ^ Karlsberg sells daughter Gesundbrunnen Bad Rilchingen , Saarbrücker Zeitung of January 20, 2020
  16. ^ Karlsberg wants to sell the French Licorne Group , Saarbrücker Zeitung of March 5, 2020
  17. Information page on the Becker Brewery , bier-der-saar.de, accessed on October 11, 2012
  18. Test reports on Becker Bier , biertest-online.de, accessed on October 11, 2012
  19. Karlsberg: Bitburger now gets Königsbacher  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Saarbrücker Zeitung of January 21, 2010@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.saarbruecker-zeitung.de  
  20. Award for linguistically successful advertising ( memento of the original from October 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , karlsberg.de, news article from April 25, 2012, accessed on October 11, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.karlsberg.de

Coordinates: 49 ° 19 ′ 28.2 "  N , 7 ° 20 ′ 44.4"  E