Carlsberg is investing further in its Kronenbourg brewery in eastern France .
The Denmark-based giant is to spend €30m ($31.7m) at the site in Obernai on projects that include the installation of an automated packaging line capable of bottling 60,000 beers an hour.
Carlsberg said the investment follows €25m of spending at the brewery over the last four years.
The investment package also includes a new warehouse, as well as a palletiser that allows the facility to create half-pallets for customers that are easier to display in shops.
Carlsberg has owned Kronenbourg since 2008 when the Danish brewer teamed up with Heineken to buy UK-based Scottish and Newcastle.
In 2022, the unit generated sales of €910m, up 9.6% year-on-year, and shifted 5.8m hectolitres.
“Several mass-market segments, such as flavoured and taster beers, saw their growth slow, impacted by the reopening of cafés, hotels and restaurants and, from summer 2022, by rising prices at the point of sale, as well as by the decline in purchasing power of French households,” the subsidiary noted in its annual report.
In France, Kronenbourg noted non-alcoholic beer accounted for 13.7% of its sales in supermarkets and hypermarkets. In total, non-alcoholic brands accounted for 8% of sales.
Kronenbourg, meanwhile, has changed its name to Brasseries Kronenbourg "reaffirm our profession as a brewer", chairman and CEO Anders Røed said in a LinkedIn post this week.
In April, Carlsberg’s UK joint venture acquired the local rights to the Kronenbourg beer brand, previously held by Heineken.
