Budweiser Budvar Brewery

Budweiser Budvar Brewery (Budějovický Budvar)
National corporation
Industry Beverages
Founded 1785
Headquarters České Budějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic
Products Beers
Revenue CZK 2.47 billion (USD 102 million) in 2015
Website http://budweiser-budvar.cz

Budweiser Budvar Brewery (Budějovický Budvar) (Czech pronunciation: [ˈbuɟɛjovit͡skiː ˈbudvar]) is a brewery in the city of České Budějovice (German: Budweis), Czech Republic, that is best known for brewing a beer known as Budweiser Budvar, brewed in accordance with the 1516 Reinheitsgebot law, using water, barley and hops.[1]

The dispute has been ongoing since 1907 with American brewer over the name "Budweiser" and in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Brazil and Peru, the beer is marketed as Czechvar.[2]

Budweiser Budvar is one of the highest selling beers in the Czech Republic and exports into more than 60 countries across all continents. It is the best selling imported beer in Germany[1] and in Austria and Great Britain the best selling Czech beer.[3][4]

History

The brewery building
Historical beer vats inside the brewery

The history of brewing in České Budějovice, dates back to the 13th century Kingdom of Bohemia, when the city received the brewing rights.[5] The original Budweiser Bier or Budweiser Bürgerbräu (Czech:Budějovický měšťanský pivovar), was founded here in 1785. The company began exporting to the United States in 1871.[6][7] In the U.S., Anheuser-Busch started using the Budweiser brand in 1876 and registered it two years later.

A second company (now named Budvar) was established in 1895 in same town by mainly Czech brewers, which also started exporting beer under the name Budweiser (being the German way of referring to something from the city such as a beer, while "Budějovický" means the same in Czech). These exports into the US market led to the Budweiser trademark dispute. Negotiations between the three companies, the two from the original town and the American Anheuser-Busch, about using "Budweiser" reached an agreement in March 1938 that allowed Anheuser-Busch to use the brand "Budweiser" only in North America.[8]

After the fall of communism, both local breweries tried to secure rights to traditional names.

Trademark dispute

Since the American company Anheuser-Busch InBev also have trademark for the name "Budweiser", the two companies have been party to many lawsuits in a number of countries since the beginning of the 20th century.

Because of such disputes, Czech Budweiser is sold in North America under the label Czechvar and American Budweiser is labelled as Bud in all European Union markets, except for the United Kingdom, Ireland and Sweden, where both beers are sold as Budweiser.

On 29 July 2010, Anheuser-Busch lost its last-instance appeal, which means that Anheuser-Busch may not register the name Budweiser as an EU-wide trademark for beer.[9]

Privatization discussion

A mug of Budweiser Budvar

On 6 April 2007, Czech Agriculture Minister Petr Gandalovič, whose ministry is in charge of the state-owned company, announced that the Budvar brewery would be privatized. Gandalovič repeated the possible privatization process would depend on the outcome of the trademark dispute with Anheuser-Busch.

The company did not later go through privatization.

Brands

Advertising

In 2002, Budějovický Budvar set up a subsidiary company in the UK, Budweiser Budvar UK Limited, and saw a dramatic rise in sales for Budweiser Budvar in the UK, where the brand gained far wider distribution. For the start of the 2002–03 Scottish football season, Budweiser Budvar began sponsoring Scottish First Division side Falkirk F.C..[11] In the 2002–2003, Falkirk won the First Division but were denied entry to the Scottish Premier League as the member clubs voted out their groundsharing proposals. Budweiser Budvar UK Ltd subsequently released a statement confirming their continued sponsorship of Falkirk in spite of this setback showing support for the club.[12] Budweiser Budvar continued to sponsor Falkirk F.C. for another two seasons when Falkirk won the First Division again in 2004–2005 in the new Falkirk Stadium and were this time promoted to the SPL as a fitting end to Falkirk's Budweiser Budvar era.

Awards

Awards include a gold medal at the World Exhibition in Prague in 1896, three times in succession two gold awards (for a lager and special) at the non-competitive Monde Selection quality contest in 1999, 2000, and 2001, and third place at the 2010 Australian International Beer Awards. As for domestic awards, it has been six times "Beer of the Year" in Beer courier magazine (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004).[13]

References

  1. 1 2 Tillmann Neuscheler. Wem gehört das deutsche Bier?. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. February 16, 2016.
  2. ↑ Onlio, a.s. © 2008. "Contact us". Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  3. ↑ "Budweiser Budvar je nejprodávanějším českým pivem v Rakousku". Budějovický Budvar.
  4. ↑ "Enjoying a Czech beer in London". Czech Radio.
  5. ↑ Onlio, a.s. © 2011. "History of the brewery". Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  6. ↑ http://isdv.upv.cz/dbr/spring/downloadPublicText?documentID=5359[] (Czech)
  7. ↑ "Budějovický měšťanský pivovar, Budweiser Bier – History". Budweiser1795.com. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  8. ↑ Ludek Sorm & spol. "Budějovický měšťanský pivovar, a. s. | Budějovický měšťanský pivovar, a. s. – Czech.Republic.CZ – rezervační a informační systém" (in Czech). Atic.cz. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  9. ↑ "Press and Information" (PDF). Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  10. ↑ Product awards, Budějovický Budvar brewery
  11. ↑ Carl, Askew (25 July 2002). "Football: SHIRT DEAL NO SMALL BEER FOR BAIRNS.". Daily Record. Retrieved 11 November 2013. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
  12. ↑ Hannan, Martin (25 May 2003). "SPL courting disaster as snubbed Falkirk turn to their lawyers". Scotland on Sunday. Retrieved 11 November 2013. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
  13. ↑ Onlio, a.s. © 2011. "Awards". Retrieved 11 October 2015.

Further reading

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