Baltic Beverages Holding

Baltas wheat beer (5.2% abv)

Baltic Beverages Holding is a brewing company owned by Carlsberg Group. It is a significant operator in the brewing industry in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic countries and Kazakhstan, most notably holding a controlling stake in Baltika Breweries. The company markets a range of beer brands from 19 breweries, ten of which are in Russia, four in the Baltic countries, three in Ukraine, one in Kazakhstan and one in Uzbekistan. The company was a 50-50 joint venture between Carlsberg and Scottish & Newcastle prior to Carlsberg's April 2008 acquisition of S&N.

A Harvard Business School case study was written about the company in 2010.

History

The company was founded in 1991 by the Finnish brewery Hartwall and the Swedish brewery Pripps.^[1]

Breweries

Aldaris Brewery

Founded in 1865 in Riga, Aldaris employs more than 400 workers, and is the biggest brewery in Latvia. It brews a range of beers, mostly pale lagers. The most popular brands include Luksus, Zelta, Gaišais (Light beer), Pilzenes (Pilsner) and Porteris. Due to its central location in the three Baltic states many products sold in all three countries are brewed in Aldaris, and labelled with the appropriate national brand and language.^[2][3]

Utenos Alus Brewery

Utenos Alus is a Lithuanian brewery, established in Utena in 1977.

Utenos Alus and Švyturys breweries merged into joint-stock company Švyturys-Utenos alus in 2001. On February 2003 the company was reorganised into a closed-end company.^[4]

Švyturys Brewery

Švyturys is a brewery in Klaipėda, Lithuania. It is part of Švyturys-Utenos alus.

The brewery was established in 1784 by the merchant J. W. Reincke in Klaipėda, then known as Memel in East Prussia. After the creation of the German Empire, the brewery became part of Memeler Aktien-Brauerei & Destillation on September 15, 1871.^[5] It passed to Lithuanian control when the Memel Territory was annexed by Lithuania in 1923. The brewery was then administered by Memeler Ostquell Brauerei GmbH in 1940 after the territory's annexation by Nazi Germany the preceding year. After the restoration of Klaipėda to Lithuanian SSR in 1945 following the Second World War, the brewery again became Lithuanian.

Švyturys and Utenos Alus breweries merged into the joint-stock company Švyturys-Utenos alus in 2001. In February 2003 the company was reorganised into a closed-end company. Currently Carlsberg Breweries controls Švyturys-Utenos alus through Baltic Beverages Holding.

In June 2000 Švyturio Ekstra beer received Silver award in Dortmunder/European Export category at World Beer Cup silver. Same brand won Gold medal in Dortmunder beer category at World Beer Championship (USA) in November 2001. In 2002 Švyturys Baltijos beer was awarded Bronze award at World Beer Cup in Marzen/Octoberfest category.

Kalnapilis Brewery

After Norwegian company Orkla merged with Carlsberg in 2001 BBH became the dominant beer producer in Lithuania, controlling the three largest breweries in Lithuania (Kalnapilis, Švyturys and Utenos Alus) so it was ordered by the Council of Competition of Lithuania to sell one of those three companies. In 2001 Kalnapilis was sold to Royal Unibrew.

Baltika Brewery

Russian Baltika Brewery began production in 1990. The majority of the company's shares (85%) are owned by Baltic Beverages Holding (BBH).

Saku Brewery

Saku Brewery dates back to 1820, making it the oldest commercial brewery in Estonia. It makes a wide range of pale lagers, such as the very popular Saku Originaal, and a few stronger and darker lagers. Since 2008, Saku has been 100% owned by the Carlsberg Group.^[6]

References

External links

• Utenos Alus website
• Švyturys website