19 March 2008 - In 2007 Plzensky Prazdroj exported 675 thousand hectolitres of Pilsner Urquell, the most in its 165-year history. That was the outcome of a series of steps that the largest exporter of Czech beer and its owner, SABMiller, have taken in the last few years in response to the saturation of the domestic market: opening branches in countries with sales potential, centralising the international marketing of the Pilsner Urquell brand, and taking care of the quality of beer, including training bar and restaurant owners.
On the domestic market, where there are very few opportunities to increase sales, Prazdroj wants to focus in the long term on increasing its share of the premium segment. It success is evident for instance in an almost 3% rise in domestic sales of Pilsner Urquell last year, despite rising beer prices.
However, sales abroad are the key area for growth. The system of selling abroad has been restructured with the aim of increasing exports. Previously Prazdroj sold its beer either with the support of SABMiller or via an exclusive distributor. Now also smaller branches are being set up in countries where there is high potential for sales of SABMiller and Plzensky Prazdroj brands. A branch in Spain has been operating since May 2006, and since February last year there has been a branch in France. In 2006 the Spanish branch managed to double Pilsner Urquell exports year-on-year, and last year it sold 11 200 hl (+62%).
Since 2003 a specialised department in London has been overseeing Pilsner Urquell’s worldwide marketing. “It takes care of establishing and extending the brand’s global marketing strategy, so that we can achieve maximally consistent communications and use the synergy that results from that, e.g. expensive advertisements are only developed once,” says Luboš Kastner, Plzensky Prazdroj’s Export Marketing Manager. In the last fiscal year (F07) alone Pilsner Urquell was promoted by international marketing and advertising worth CZK 250 million, of which e.g. CZK 84 million went on promoting the brand in the United Kingdom. Last year Prazdroj launched an extensive advertising campaign to promote sales of Pilsner Urquell in Germany, with the well-known slogan “Ohne Lemon. Ohne Cranberry. Ohne Bullshit”.
Prazdroj has completed a series of investment projects in the Plzeň brewery to increase production capacity and improve the flavour stability. This year it further extended the production capacity for Pilsner Urquell by installing six new large-capacity tanks with a total volume of 28 000 hl.
Promoting exports includes international quality control. “We have implemented our own technical measures in that field, including a comprehensive project for flavour stability and individual aspects such as a special 25-litre KEG barrel with a diameter of just 28 cm, which fits into the coolers in the bars of American restaurants and clubs. We are also motivating and training staff, barmen and restaurant owners in the correct care of beer and the cultivated setting in which it is drunk. To that end there is for instance a competition for the best European Pilsner Urquell restaurant, the Pilsner Urquell Master Bartender contest, and the European Quality League, which includes national levels,” says Luboš Kastner. A team of Plzensky Prazdroj’s brewers travels the world, teaching distributors, customers and employees about the history, production, care and serving of Pilsner beer. Each year thousands of people are trained in that way.
Pilsner Urquell is now sold in 56 countries. The key markets remain Germany, the USA, Slovakia and the Scandinavian countries. Last year three new markets were added: Albania, Georgia and Serbia. Pilsner Urquell is the best-selling imported beer in Germany.