Warsteiner owner Haus Cramer lines up closure of two breweries

Warsteiner owner Haus Cramer Group could shut two breweries due to “structural” shifts in Germany’s beer market.

In a statement yesterday (7 May), the brewer of Warsteiner pilsner said the potential closure of two breweries in North Rhine-Westphalia followed an “intensive evaluation of all economic options”.

Haus Cramer said brewing at its site in the town of Herford will end during the second half of the year.

The company has put its brewery 50km south in Paderborn up for sale. Haus Cramer said if no buyer is found for the Paderborn facility production there will also stop by the end of this year.

Between the two sites, 211 employees are affected, although the company said it intends to transfer some of the workforce to its brewery in Warstein.

Haus Cramer's Bavarian operations in the south of Germany are not included in the measures.

The company linked the restructuring to a long-term fall in beer consumption in Germany. It said annual per capita consumption has declined from 125 litres in 2000 to 88 litres now, a drop of about 30%.

Against that backdrop, the brewer said it would reduce capacity by a similar level, at about 30%.

After the restructuring, the company intends to expand its Warstein site as its central production and logistics hub in North Rhine-Westphalia.

It also said it plans to invest in brewing technology and pursue more “sustainable” production methods. In addition, the group wants to make greater use of the site’s rail link to “further expand” logistics operations.

Last month, the German Brewers’ Association (DBB) said alcoholic beer sales in the country fell 5.8% in 2025 to about 6.4 billion litres, citing “demographic changes” and weaker consumer spending among the reasons for the decline.

By contrast, non-alcoholic beer output rose 7.6% in 2025 to roughly 750 million litres.

The DBB said non-alcoholic beers and mixed non-alcoholic beer drinks now make up about 11% of total beer consumption in Germany, making the country the “European leader” in non-alcoholic beer brewing.

Germany still has 1,415 breweries but the sector has come under strain. After the number of breweries climbed to 1,552 in 2019, a total of 137 have closed since then.

Employment in Germany’s brewing industry has remained broadly stable over the past eight years, standing at 27,400 in 2025.

"Warsteiner owner Haus Cramer lines up closure of two breweries" was originally created and published by Just Drinks, a GlobalData owned brand.

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