Haus Cramer Gruppe has announced plans to shut a local drinks production facility in Thannhausen, in the southeastern state of Bavaria, Germany.
The site is due to close by the end of the year.
In a statement issued yesterday (26 September), the Warsteiner pilsner producer said the move was "unavoidable" due to "existing overcapacity" and a generally tough beer market in Germany.
Haus Cramer's managing director of technology Jens Hoffmann said: "The German beer market is in a very challenging and serious situation, which is characterised, among other things, by the ongoing inflation and the significant decline in consumption among consumers in the beer segment".
Such an environment, he added, had brought on a “resulting increasing economic pressure on breweries”, meaning “the economic conditions have become even tougher in recent years and especially in the last few months.
“In order to be future-oriented and therefore profitable in the long run, we have to align our company in every respect with the medium to long-term framework conditions and customer requirements”.
As a result of the closure, the company will stop producing the Münz and Postbräu beer brands and Thannhäuser mineral waters, which were made at the Thannhausen site and sold locally in the Bavaria region.
These brands sit under Haus Cramer's König Ludwig Schlossbrauerei Kaltenberg division, which also makes the namesake König Ludwig beers, and regional brands Holzkirchen and Holzkirchner Oberbräu.
No other brands are affected by the closure, the company told Just Drinks.
Some 18 workers will be impacted by the closure. Haus Cramer said it "is in intensive discussions with employees and the workers' council" to find roles, where possible, at other production sites. "Alternative solutions are sought for those employees for whom this is not possible", it added.
Earlier this year, Haus Cramer announced plans to enter the soft drinks category with a new “caffeinated lemonade with cola-orange flavour” product, sold under its Paderborner brand.
The Paderborner Limo Cola-Orange-Mix drink was launched in February in the German city of Paderborn in 0.5l glass bottles. A 0.5l canned format was later released in April.
The product is produced at the company's Paderborner Brewery, located in the German city of Paderborn.
In August 2023, Haus Cramer announced plans to up its capacity of the Paderborner facility by 25% to 1.25l, spending €11m ($12m) on areas such as fermentation, refrigeration, storage and packaging.
