GROWING THE POLISH BEER INDUSTRY

The historic falling of the Berlin Wall not only opened up freedom and democracy for Central Eastern Europe, it also opened up the repressed markets of Poland, Czech, Hungry and other countries to branded goods and services – and beer was no exception.

Harbin B.V. identified this opportunity and in 1991 came to invest in Europe’s 5th largest country, Poland.  With one of the younger populations in Europe and a per capita beer consumption of just one-third of the European average, there was ample room for strong growth in the beer industry.  

With its acquisition of the Elbląg and Hevelius Breweries in Northern Poland, Brewpole B.V. was formed in 1991 and set out to modernize the Polish beer industry.  With savvy acquisitions of other breweries, plant modernizations and innovative marketing campaigns for its beer brands, Brewpole B.V. became Poland’s largest beer producer by 1997.

In 1993, a new brand, EB, was successfully launched and within three years was Poland’s largest beer brand.  Not only were Poles drinking EB, but “Czas na EB” (Time for EB) became a cultural phenomenon with its young and hip marketing campaigns, enabling EB to win the hearts and pockets of Polish beer drinkers. 

And in 1994, Harbin B.V. took on a new partner in Brewpole B.V, with the Dutch brewer Royal Grolsch acquiring a 25% ownership interest.  This interest though was repurchased by Harbin in 1997, paving the way in 1998 for Harbin B.V. to join with another Dutch partner, Heineken International. 

Grupa Zywiec S.A.

In 1998, Harbin B.V. and Heineken International reached agreement whereby Brewpole B.V. was acquired by Grupa Zywiec S.A., a publicly traded company on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and in which the new partners held significant post-transaction stakes.  

Grupa Zywiec S.A. today continues to lead innovations for the Polish consumer, having been the first major Polish brewer to offer craft beer options in the form of Zywiec Variants and most recently, leading the Polish market towards responsible drinking with its Strefa Zero campaign in 2018.

Heineken, the world’s second largest brewer, and Harbin B.V. have managed a successful partnership in Grupa Zywiec S.A. now for over 21 years.  Harbin B.V. remains actively involved in Zywiec’s Supervisory Board and operations of Zywiec with its 33% ownership stake.