Krombacher Group performs well in an extremely difficult financial year 2020

Extremely limited catering operations, no festive events, no soccer fans in the stadiums, completely closed night catering and a massively impaired export business - this is how the Corona year 2020 presented itself to the entire brewing and beverage industry. The Krombacher Group recorded an overall loss in output of 0.188 million hectoliters (hl) to 7.403 million hl. Compared to the market, the Krombacher umbrella brand posted better results, landing at 5.723 million hl (-4.8%) for 2020. The Schweppes family was able to grow by 101,000 hl (+7.9%), particularly due to the expansion of the Zero range, despite the most adverse circumstances.
"It is thanks to the high level of commitment and great flexibility of our employees that in 2020, despite all the circumstances, we were able to consistently convince users* with our existing portfolio and also with our new products," commented Uwe Riehs, Managing Director Marketing of the Krombacher Group on the company's results. "The strength of our brands and the cohesion and commitment to each other in our company are key success factors that have come to bear, especially in such a crisis year."

Krombacher remains No. 1 beer brand and grows alcohol-free
Krombacher further consolidated its position as Germany's most popular beer brand in 2020. Despite the pandemic-related significant losses in the keg beer segment, the market leader from the Siegerland region presented itself as extremely stable, particularly in the bottled beer business. This compensated at least to some extent for the losses in the food service, festival and export sectors.

Krombacher Pils was once again the Germans' favorite beer in 2020. Above all, the high product quality and decades of consistent natural positioning made a major contribution to this. Through the further development and reinterpretation of the nature positioning within the revised brand campaign, the brand image was further enhanced across all advertising platforms in the Corona year.

Another important and strategic building block in Krombacher's variety policy is the focus on and expansion of non-alcoholic varieties. A particularly pleasing development was seen here in 2020. Both the isotonic thirst quencher Krombacher o.0% and KROMBACHER'S FASSBRAUSE and the cult brand Vitamalz grew significantly. With the launch of Vitamalz Sport, the trend towards calorie-reduced soft drinks was also further served. More and more consumers are appreciating the variety of Krombacher products, making Krombacher the strongest national beer brand in the non-alcoholic segment as well.

In the area of alcohol-reduced products, another successful new launch was also presented. The new Krombacher lemonade beer in the naturally cloudy lemon variant quickly found many new fans. It impressed not only with its taste and quality, but also with a surprising presentation in product design and customer appeal. And the summer promotion product Krombacher Limobier Mango-Maracuja was also convincing.

Schweppes continues to develop very positively
The brands and products of Schweppes Germany have also found many fans and users in 2020. Since 2006, the Krombacher Group has held the brand and distribution rights for Germany and Austria for the non-alcoholic brands Schweppes, Orangina and Dr Pepper. Despite the very difficult conditions in the restaurant trade, Schweppes Germany was able to achieve a positive result overall. Output for the year grew by 7.9% to 1.384 million hl. Sales climbed to €145 million (+4.5%).

As before, it is the classics such as Indian Tonic Water, Dry Tonic Water and Original Bitter Lemon, among others, that are driving growth. They are all now also available in the new, sustainable 0.75-liter returnable glass bottle. In addition, the boom in Schweppes Russian Wild Berry is not abating. The variety is now one of the top 3 Schweppes products. Another important driver of Schweppes' successful development is the Zero range. Russian Wild Berry Zero, the fourth sugar-free Schweppes variety, has been on store shelves since 2020.

The positive sales in the retail sector in no way conceal the difficult situation in the restaurant trade. The trendy and trendy gastronomy sector, which was particularly hard hit in 2020, was supported by the SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BAR crowdfunding campaign, among other things. As a central partner of this initiative, among others, Schweppes was able to contribute to stabilizing the bar scene as far as possible through these and many other measures. The result of a recent survey by the gastronomy industry magazine "fizzz", in which Schweppes was voted the top drink in the filler category, is all the more gratifying.

Orangina is and remains an absolute "love brand." And it showed that again in 2020, with the refreshing taste and iconic design of the "Bulby Bottle" convincing more and more people to drink the premium lemonade.

The "oldest soft drink brand in the world" is also enjoying a great development in Germany. With the claim "Tastes good. But not for everyone." Dr Pepper caused a stir again in 2020. Currently, the US cult brand is available in stores in a limited American Football design, in keeping with the current hype.

The distribution and marketing of Schweppes products is handled in part by Drinks & More GmbH & Co. KG, a 100% holding of Krombacher Brauerei.

Outlook: Variety and quality focus remain central elements
"The first half of 2021 is also expected to continue to be dominated by the effects of the pandemic. Planning for this year is accordingly challenging," says Uwe Riehs. "However, we will not be put off by this, but will continue to place our strategic focus on excellent product quality and adequate variety. As in 2020, it will be important for us to take people with us, both our users and our employees. This also relates to our social responsibility, which we will also fulfill this year." Krombacher was already involved in 2020 at the beginning and during the Corona pandemic. Among other things, ethanol was provided free of charge for the production of disinfectant, a donation of €1 million was made to the Corona Emergency Relief Fund of the German Red Cross, and the annual Krombacher donation campaign was brought forward and dedicated to volunteering. Already since 2003, 100 charitable institutions have been supported and promoted annually with € 2,500 each as part of the fundraising campaign.