Poland: Kompania Piwowarska, a part of the world’s second biggest brewing group - SABMiller plc., has recently announced its sales in the fourth quarter of 2004 (October - December) were up on the same quarter of the prior year by 12.9%. With sales of 2,267 million hectolitres, Kompania Piwowarska reported the biggest volumes of beer sold to domestic customers among all beer companies in Poland. This achievement puts Kompania Piwowarska in the leadership position for the second consecutive quarter of the 2004 calendar year. The outstanding sales growth achieved by Kompania Piwowarska translates into a market share of 38.9% in the fourth quarter of 2004 year alone.

Kompania Piwowarska’s domestic sales (excluding exports) in the twelve months of 2004 amounted to 9,96 million hl, up on last year by 9.1% (in 2003 we sold 9.13 mln hl). Kompania Piwowarska’s is proud to hold 36,4 % market share of the Polish beer market in 2004.

“Our outstanding sales results during the second half a year of 2004 – says Karl Lippert, Kompania Piwowarska’s Managing Director – were impressive, and we have shown our new market leadership to be sustainable. We expect to continue our growth and our market share, because our growth is driven by our portfolio of healthy brands, which are valued by the discerning Polish consumers. Our portfolio contains three of the top five brands in Poland: Tyskie, Zubr and Lech. We also have an extraordinary team of skilled and motivated employees, without whom such success would be impossible reach.”

The year 2004 was an exciting period for the management and all Kompania Piwowarska employees. “We started 2004 with a 33% market share and managed to grow this to over 36%,” the brewery mentioned. The company has also been named one of the nineteen 'Pillars of Polish Economy', i.e. business leaders, playing key roles in Polish economy, in the recognized ranking list published by “Puls Biznesu”.

“During the past six months we concluded an unprecedented Tyskie 375 years anniversary campaign, consisting of an unforgettable “historical” TV commercial series, a massive outdoor campaign and a unique consumer roadshow of 50 “Biesiady Tyskie” across the whole country.” Tyskie, the biggest beer brand in Poland and one of the top brands in Europe, continues to occupy the top spot with market share of 14.3% (according to AC Nielsen, 4Q). According to findings of the research agency SMG KRC, Tyskie is rated the best Polish beer by more consumers than for any other brand. Tyskie was rated by over 33% of Polish beer consumers as the best Polish beer in August 2003. That figure increased to over 35 % in August 2004.

“We also experienced strong growth of ¯ubr, which is now the 2nd biggest brand in Poland, and is available to consumers across the whole country.” The performance of Lech, which was re-launched in the early summer, has exceeded our expectations. Consumers responded enthusiastically not only to the beer’s refreshing taste but also to the new logo, green bottle and witty communication campaign. It is now the beer of choice for young adults that live an active life.

TOP 5 BEER BRANDS IN POLAND (4Q)
Brand name / Market share (%)
1 Tyskie: 14.3%
2 ¯ubr: 8.35
3 Tatra Pils: 6.8%
4 ¯ywiec: 6.6%
5 Lech: 5.8%
Source: AC Nielsen, Oct. – Dec. 2004


The biggest beer brand in Poland is managed by the most seasoned brand managers in Poland. Their extraordinary achievements were recognized several times during 2004. The five-episode series of unforgettable “historical” commercials won a prize in the category of “spot campaign” in the Z³ote Or³y ('Gold Eagles') competition. This award came right after another spectacular success: the EFFIE AWARD in the "Long-Term Campaigns" category for Tyskie advertisements in the "Ireland, Belgium, Scotland" series. Another successful brand, Zubr, was awarded the Grand Prix in the same competition (in “advertising alcoholic beverages" category). Tyskie and ¯ubr brand teams have been also awarded the internal SABMiller “MERCATUS AWARD” for excellence in marketing.

Kompania Piwowarska’s brand management takes pride in being the best in understanding and addressing consumer needs. Consequently, Kompania Piwowarska recently launched Redd's Red: a unique beer, which tastes just like the all-familiar beer mixed with a twist of raspberry juice.

One of our major investment projects during 2004 was the increase in capacity at our brewery in Bia³ystok. This included an increase in brewing capacity and will conclude with the installation of a new bottling line (with 60,000 bottles per hour capacity). The bottling line project cost amounts to PLN 46 million.

Other investment projects included the construction of a new warehouse in Bia³ystok and an additional office building in Poznañ, the renovation of the historical buildings complex in Tychy and further brewing capacity in Poznañ and Tychy breweries. Total investments amounted to some PLN 180 million.

The year 2004 marked not only the 375th Tyskie Brewery anniversary, but also the 70th anniversary of the City of Tychy. On that occasion Kompania Piwowarska carefully renovated one of the historic buildings in Tychy and handed it over to the people of Tychy as a “birthday gift”, to house the City Museum. Next to the City Museum is Poland’s first Brewery Museum,
opened in November 2004. It is located in the neo-gothic chapel dating back to 1902. The exhibition includes documents, pictures, beer mugs, bottles and other items as well as numerous multimedia. Among them is the only non-commercial 3D cinema in Poland, showing the documentary about the rich tradition of the Tyskie Brewery and the Tyskie brand.

For the second year in a row, Kompania Piwowarska’s internal magazine “Œwiat Piwa” has been named the Best Employee Magazine in Poland by a team of independent jurors – experts and professionals in corporate communication, graphics and journalism. By winning the competition, Œwiat Piwa has maintained its position as the benchmark for other employee
publication across the country.

Kompania Piwowarska is part of the world’s second biggest brewing group - SABMiller plc. It has a brewing presence in over 40 countries across four continents and a portfolio of over 100 strong brands and leading market shares in many of the countries in which it has brewing operations. Annual sales reached 137 million hectoliters in the 2003/4 financial year. The company is also one of the largest Coca Cola bottlers outside the US. In the financial year ended March 31, 2004, SABMiller plc achieved net profits of $1,4 billion on sales of $12,6 billion.

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