Prompted by years of double-digit growth and lacking any spare production capacity, Danish-owned Carlsberg Polska, Poland’s number three beer producer has announced large-scale expansion of its Kasztelan brewery in Sierpc (120km northwest of Warsaw). Estimated at PLN 187m (EUR 45m), the project will boost Carlsberg Polska’s annual production capacity from the current 7m hl up to 8.5m hl, enabling the company to further increase its market share.

“Our medium-term goal is to pass the 20% mark but without new investments we simply cannot get there. Currently our Polish breweries operate at capacity,” Tomasz Bławat, CEO of Carlsberg Polska tells news2biz. “The new line will be operational in mid-2014 and it should reach full capacity by the end of the same year.”

The investments in Sierpc will include new canning lines, as well as additional brewing & logistics facilities. Although details are yet to be worked out, they will result in creation of “several dozen new jobs” in Sierpc, according to Bławat. Carlsberg Polska employs approximately 1,300 staff at the moment (including 130-140 in Sierpc) and the figure has not changed from last year.

Currently the Danes are finishing up another investment – a new PLN 60m (EUR 15) bottling line at their Okocim brewery in Brzesko (50km east of Kraków).

“We have replaced an old line with a new, much more efficient one. This project, which increases the brewery’s volume by some 0.2m hl, should be completed any day now, taking our overall production capability up to 7m hl.”

The 2012 was a fantastic year for Carlsberg in Poland. The Danish brewer maintained its double digit growth pace with a 15% sales increase (in value & volume) in 2012 - in a market that rose by merely 5%. The Polish achievement was all the more remarkable, as in the entire Western Europe region (which includes Poland), the company sold 50.3bn hl – merely 1% more than in the prior year…..

Source: Lech Kaczanowski, Editor, news2biz POLAND