Estonia & Finland: BBH-owned Saku Olletehase to start brewing at Carlsberg’s Finish facility
The Estonian brewery Saku Olletehase is seriously considering the opportunity to start rolling out beer at Carlsberg’s brewery in Finland. Local reports said the brewer is already in negotiations with its co-owner’s unit in Finland.
Saku’s brands are extremely popular among Finish beer drinkers as it ranked the most sold foreign beer in this Scandinavian country.
In the first half of 2006, Saku Olletehase AS sold over 42 million litres of beverages, a notable 7.6 per cent or 3 million litre improvement on a year ago. According to the Estonian Breweries’ Association, in the first six months of 2006 the Estonian beer market grew by 4 per cent to 63.5 million litres. The market share of Saku Olletehase AS grew by 2 percentage points to 46.5 per cent.
Six months’ revenues totalled EEK 350 million (€22.4 million), an EEK 45.8 million (€2.9 million) or 15 per cent upswing on the first six months of 2005. Profit before tax amounted to EEK 58.8 million (€3.8 million), a solid EEK 21.8 million (€1.3 million) or 59 per cent improvement on the first half of 2005.
In 1991 joint venture Saku Olletehas was established. Today 75% of the shares are owned by Baltic Beverages Holding AB - Pripps Ringnes AB and Oy Hartwall AB company - and 25% by small shareholders.
Through big investments Saku Brewery has become the market leader on the Estonian beer market. The market share of Saku in 1999 accounted for 50% of the total market. The total sales of beer and mineral water by Saku amounted to 51.6 million litres in 1999.
The main product of Saku Brewery is Saku Originaal - the leader of Estonia´s beer market since 1995. According to the market research by Emor, Saku Originaal is the most recognised and popular Estonian beer.
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