Even if it is not a sizeable investment, the project of the Berarium shareholders–the company that owns the beer brands and the production facility–is the first new investment in beer production in the last two years, with plants closing up one after another as consumer spending declined.
In 1994, there were almost 125 beer plants in Romania, but now there are less than 15. This compares with more than 125 breweries in the Czech Republic, 70 in Poland, and 55 in Hungary, according to data from the Brewers of Europe Association, which quotes an Ernst & Young survey from 2009.
“The idea of making beer was born six years ago. In a narrow group of friends, who all later became Berarium shareholders, we started brewing home-made beer using a 20-liter system. Over the years we created and tested various beer assortments and recipes on ourselves. (…) In the end we came up with Clinica de Bere and Terapia brands, which are now registered with OSIM (The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks),” said Heinrich Loth, manager of Clinica de Bere and one of the company’s shareholders.
According to Trade Registry data, Loth holds 38% in Berarium, while the rest is shared among Mircea Marius Corneliu (5%), Gabriel Lung (3%), Narcis Florin Grigore Moldovan (3%), Valentin Alin Ciontea (13%), Marcellus Loth.
The shareholders invested EUR800,000 from their own resources, with the microfactory having five employees.
“We started operations on January 1st, and we plan to sell 200,000 liters of beer, only in Timisoara,” Heinrich Loth added.