UK: Carlsberg announces restructure

Leading brewer Carlsberg's UK arm has announced plans for a restructure of its business "in order to create an agile organisation and deliver long-term profitability".

In a programme named "Funding The Journey", the beermaker said it planned to restructure its commercial organisation "to give greater focus to its brands and shift focus to drive value" and said proposals included reducing the size of its production team at its Northampton brewery "to meet future volume requirements".

Interim CEO Michiel J Herkemij commented: “One of the biggest challenges in the UK beer market is significant over capacity, driving short-term behaviour in the market place. By making these proposed changes, we can control costs and build our brands and drinks portfolio. Removing the pressure to solely focus on volume will drive greater value for our business and for our customers".

Food & Drink Business Europe quotes group CEO Cees ‘t Hart as saying that declines in Europe and China would lead to a reduction in excess capacity that might “possibly include some brewery closures”, without giving further details. The news agency also notes that Carlsberg has recently witnessed falling beer sales in its core market of Russia, leading it to close breweries in the country.

Carlsberg UK currently has around a 13% share of the UK beer market through brands including Carlsberg, Carlsberg Export, Tuborg, Tetley’s and Somersby Cider, as well as having the UK license for San Miguel and Mahou.

Source: Carlsberg / Food & Drink Business Europe / IGD