Volfas Engelman

This article is about the Lithuanian brewery. For Ragutis, the Lithuanian god of alcoholic drinks, see List of Lithuanian mythological figures.

Coordinates: 54°53′09″N 23°55′38″E / 54.88583°N 23.92722°E / 54.88583; 23.92722

SP Volfas Engelman
Sole proprietorship
Industry Light alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages
Founded 1853
Headquarters Kaunas,
Kaunakiemio 2
Key people
CEO Vytautas Meištas
Products Beer, cider, cocktails, kvass, energy drink
Number of employees
Around 200 (2009)
Website http://www.volfasengelman.lt/en/

Volfas Engelman is an alcohol beverage producer in Kaunas, Lithuania.

As of 2009, 99.57% of Volfas Engelman shares belong to Finnish company group Olvi Plc. It is one of the most modern light alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages producer in Lithuania, which produces and sells beer, kvass, cider, alcohol cocktails, and energy drinks.

According to market research company AC Nielsen, Volfas Engelman is the third biggest player in the beer market; it has 37% of cider market share, 26% of alcohol cocktails, and 13% of energy drinks market in 2009. Smetoniska gira, a kvass that was launched in 2008, was the market leader in 2009.

History

The brewery Volfas Engelman was opened in Kaunas in 1853, after merchant Raphail Wolf started boiling "Wolf's beer" in his own brewery. At that time he was producing only several buckets of beer a day, however, at that time it was a new high quality beer. Later the business of this factory went to his son Iser Ber Wolf. Iser Ber Wolf together with A. S. Soloveichik, another famous person in Kaunas, in the last decade of 19th century decided to buy a brewery from the competitor Ferdinand Engelmann. Hence, based on this they established a new brewery "Steam-driven Beer and Malt Factory Engelmann".

In 1927 several names for the brewery were used: I. B. Wolf – Engelmann, J. B. Wolf – Engelmann, J. B. Wolf – Engelman, but the official name proved by the Finance minister was "Joint-stock Company of Beer Breweries and Molt Factories". A that time the sales amounted to 40% of all beer consumption in Lithuania. Till the World War I that beer was exported to Gardin, Baltstoge, Suvalkai, Łomża.

In 1930 "I. B. Wolf – Engelman" sold 3.4 milliliters of production – about one third of all beer made in Lithuania. For this contribution and its quality, the company received a number of gold and silver medals.

In 1940 the company "I.B.Volfas-Engelman" was nationalized. The name was changed into "The previous I. B. Wolf – Engelman brewery". Since 1941 the name "Raudonoji pasvaiste" is found in the documents. Later it was changed once again into "Perkunas".

In 1959 "Beer and Soft Drinks Syndicate of Kaunas" was established on the basis of beer breweries "Volfas Engelman" and "Raudonoji pašvaistė". In 1967 the syndicate was renamed to "Ragutis", after a Lithuanian god of beer.

After Lithuania regained its independence in 1990, "Volfas Engelman" was given a status of Kaunas Public Beer Brewery. The disaffiliated second plant became an independent beer company "Zalsvytis". During the years 1993-1994 40% of "Volfas Engelman" production was sold in Kaunas.

At the beginning of 1997, the Czech beer brewery "Pilzner Urquell" bought 51% of Volfas Engelman's shares. The new owners concentrated to production process and the quality of beer; therefore they decided to suspend the production of other drinks. Around 10 million litas was invested into modernization of the brewery. The focus was put on the improvement of production quality, an increase of production efficiency, and expansion of production capacity.

In 1999 "Olvi Plc" bought "Volfas Engelman" shares from Pilzner Urquell. Currently Olvi Plc owns 99.57% of Volfas Engelman shares.

Brands

Beer

Cider

Alcohol cocktails

Kvass

Energy drinks

Events sponsored by "Volfas Engelman"

Works cited

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, March 06, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.