Poland: SABMiller plc announced US$100 million investment for Kompania Piwowarska

SABMiller plc, one of the world’s leading brewers, announced November 21 that its Polish subsidiary Kompania Piwowarska will invest up to US$100 million in an upgrade of its three breweries. The majority of the investment is in the Tyskie brewery near Krakow in Silesia, where production capacity will be increased to serve growing demand for the Tyskie brand, which is Poland’s best selling beer and biggest export brand. This forms part of a three year investment programme, with the majority of the investment already underway and to be completed by the end of fiscal year 2007.

Following the investment, the Tyskie brewery will be SABMiller’s largest European facility, capable of producing over 8 million hectolitres or 1.4 billion pints annually, equating to 16% of SABMiller’s total European brewing capacity. SABMiller’s total brewing capacity in Poland will rise from 12.5 million hectolitres to 15 million hectolitres.

The Tyskie investment includes a new, technologically advanced brewhouse and an additional packaging line, which will improve the packaging capacity across the country. Further construction is planned to extend the fermenting and maturation areas of the brewery, with the addition of 12 new fermenting tanks and 8 new maturation vessels, the first stage of which will be completed in January 2007.

Commenting on the investment, Mark Bowman, Managing Director of Kompania Piwowarska, said;

“Our investment decision to extend the production capacity in all the brewery plants has been driven by good growth in both the domestic beer market and the strong international demand for our brands. It not only enables us to maintain and improve the already high quality of our beer production, but also will help to meet the demand arising out of current sales growth.”

UK sales volumes of Tyskie have recently risen over 400% since the brand’s introduction in 2005, driven in part by the influx of migrant workers since Poland’s acceptance into the European Union.

About SABMiller plc

SABMiller plc is one of the world’s largest brewers with brewing interests or distribution agreements in over 60 countries across five continents. The group’s brands include premium international beers such as Miller Genuine Draft, Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Pilsner Urquell, as well as an exceptional range of market leading local brands. Outside the USA, SABMiller plc is also one of the largest bottlers of Coca-Cola products in the world.

In the year ended 31 March 2006, the group reported US$2,626 million adjusted pre-tax profit and a turnover of US$15,307 million. SABMiller plc is listed on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges.

Kompania Piwowarska

Kompania Piwowarska is the biggest and the most profitable brewer in Poland. Hundreds of years of experience in beer brewing, state-of-the-art technology and rigorous adherence to the World Class Manufacturing rules guarantee the products’ highest quality. The company’s product portfolio includes TYSKIE (Pole’s favourite beer), ŻUBR (second largest beer brand in the country), LECH, Dębowe Mocne, Pilsner Urquell, Redd's, Dog in the Fog and Miller Genuine Draft. Kompania Piwowarska was established in 1999 as a result of a merger of Tyskie Brewery and Lech Brewery Wielkopolski. In 2003 Kompania was joined by Dojlidy Brewery at Bialystok.

In the fiscal year ended on 31 March 2006 Kompania Piwowarska generated net profits of PLN 570 mill on sales worth PLN 3.8 billion.

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .