Cathedral of brewing: tradition remains the byword at Denmark's Carlsberg Brewery

Modern Brewery Age, July 22, 2002 by Gregg Glaser

The present ownership of Carlsberg can be a bit confusing to comprehend, The Carlsberg Foundation owns 55 percent of Carlsberg A/S. Carlsberg A/S is a listed public limited company focused on Carlsberg Breweries A/S. Carlsberg Breweries A/S merged in 2001 with the Norwegian brewery Orkla. Carlsberg A/S owns 60 percent of Carlsberg Breweries A/S and Orkla owns 40 percent.

The Carlsberg Group includes approximately 100 subsidiaries in Denmark and abroad. Carlsberg and Tuborg breweries in Denmark are located in Valby and in Fredericia in Jutland. Carlsberg also brews the beers of Wiibroe and Neptun, Danish breweries it absorbed in years past.

Carlsberg's first exports were to Scotland in 1868. There's been no stopping the brewery on the export side of its business since that time. Carlsberg was hugely instrumental in spreading the popularity of lager beer worldwide in the 1800s. The Danes have always been great traders. Coming from a small country with a small domestic market, the only way to grow an international-sized company was to bean aggressive marketer and exporter. Over 93 percent of Carlsberg's sales are exports to over 140 countries. They brew their beers at 85 sites worldwide in 46 countries, both directly and under license.

In Europe, Carlsberg's most important markets are the U.K., Scandinavia, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Belgium, France, Romania, Croatia, Poland, Switzerland and Germany. Carlsberg is southeast Asia's leading beer brand, brewed in China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. Carlsberg Asia Ltd. is a jointly-owned company between Carlsberg and Thailand's Chang Beverage Company. In Russia and the Baltic States, Carlsberg has the largest beer market share through its subsidiary Baltic Beverages Holding AB, in which Carlsberg is partnered with Finland's Hartwell Brewery. Carlsberg is also brewed in Israel, Malawi, Turkey and Canada (where it is exported to the U.S.)

Carlsberg's international subsidiaries include Oy Sinebrychoff (Finland), Falcon Holding AB (Sweden), Carlsberg-Tetley PLC (U.K.), Carlsberg Italia S.p.A. (Italy), AB Svyturys (Lithuania), Carlsberg France, Hannen Brauerei GmbH (Germany), Carlsberg Agency Inc. (U.S.), Carlsberg Marketing Pte and Carlsberg Asia Pte (Singapore), Carlsberg Brewery Hong Kong Limited and Carlsberg Malawi Brewery Limited.

Carlsberg is in partnership with Coca-Cola under the name Coca-Cola Tapperierne A/S (previously known as Coca Cola Nordic Beverages A/S), which is one of The Coca Cola Company international "anchor bottlers" for Coke throughout the Nordic region. The company also produces Carlsberg sodas. Danbrew is a Carlsberg subsidiary located in Valby that provides project planning and complete processing units, such as turnkey breweries, to international beverage companies. The Danish Malting Group, another Carlsberg company, supplies breweries in Denmark and abroad with malt from Denmark's biggest malting plant at Orslev near Vordingborg. Combio A/S is a biotech firm created from patented inventions from Carlsberg Laboratories.