Bavaria Brewery (Netherlands) - History

History

BY 1719, Laurentius Moorees had founded Bavaria Brouwerij in Lieshout, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from Eindhoven. Annually the village brewery produced around 88 barrels (approximately 14400 liters) of beer. It was not until Moorees' great-grandson received ownership of the brewery that production was expanded. Jan Swinkels, born in 1851, increased distribution and operations at the site. By 1910 a malting plant had been built (it still produces malt for Bavaria and other breweries) and output had increased to tens of thousands of liters of beer per annum. By 1924 the original brewery buildings had become too small for the plant so a larger brewery was built in Lieshout. In 1933 the brewery added its own bottling plant, which produced 2,000 bottles-per-hour.

Until the 1970s Bavaria only concentrated on the Dutch market but it now sells products in up to 100 countries. The brewery, which adapts its drinks to individual markets, has sales subsidiaries in France, Spain, Italy, England, South-Africa and America and agents in other countries. For instance In 1978, alcohol-free malt beer was exported to countries in the Middle East.

Bavaria is now the second largest brewery in Holland. The annual production is above five million hectolitres of beer. The majority of beer is still brewed in Lieshout, but Bavaria products are also brewed locally in Russia by Efes Beverage Group (EBI) and at Bavaria's own brewery in South-Africa. The company also has a soft drinks factory, two malt houses and manages the De Koningshoeven Brewery, a Trappist Brewery. Barley is still malted in Bavaria's own malt houses in Lieshout and in the Eemshaven. These two malt houses have an annual capacity of 240,000 tonnes and are a joint venture between Bavaria and a farmers' cooperative called the Holland Malt company.

Since 2005 Bavaria has hosted the Bavaria City Racing event in Rotterdam. In 2007, Bavaria sponsored the Dutch Champ Car Grand Prix.