Heineken is to invest a “double-digit million euro” sum in building a new brewery for Eichhof ahead of an upgrade of the brand’s Swiss headquarters.
The new “city brewery” in Lucerne, where the brand’s HQ and “historic” brewery are also located, will produce and bottle the entire Eichhof range, as well as limited-edition SKUs, “seasonal specialities” and other innovations. The new facility is due to become operational “around” 2030, and will eventually take over all production from the existing Lucerne site.
Heineken’s plans for the site also encompass an innovation centre, “where new recipes [will be] developed and older ones revived”. Meanwhile, “larger production volumes” for Eichhof will be partially manufactured at a separate brewery in Chur, east of Lucerne, which also produces local beer mark Calanda as well as Birra Moretti and brand Heineken.
“Establishing the new Eichhof City Brewery reflects a future optimisation of our production footprint in Switzerland,” a spokesperson told Global Drinks Intel. “With the new city brewery, Lucerne will become the centre for Eichhof beers and innovations, while Chur will increasingly focus on the efficient production of larger volumes.”
Alongside the brewery build, Heineken plans to “modernise” Eichhof’s Lucerne offices and has drawn up “long-term” plans for developing the site – a first-draft ‘concept sketch’ of the idea can be seen below.
Heineken Switzerland country manager Marc Moser said: “Eichhof belongs to Lucerne, and that’s how it should stay in the future. That’s why we’re investing in a new, fully-fledged brewery and our headquarters in Lucerne. We’re proud to be shaping this exciting new chapter for Eichhof.”
In June, Heineken announced that Rafael Oliveira would be taking over from CEO Dolf van den Brink, who handed in his notice in January.
