Bitburger boss Axel Dahm leaves the crisis-ridden brewery

Axel Dahm

The manager had been spokesman for the management of the traditional family company Bitburger since 2016.

(Photo: dpa)

Dusseldorf The Bitburger brewing group separates from its boss. Axel Dahm, who has been spokesman for the management board for marketing, sales and strategy since 2016, is leaving the family business at the end of the month. This was announced by the family business from the Eifel on Thursday.

Chairman of the Supervisory Board Dieter Heuskel spoke of “different strategic views”. The step was taken with a view to the major current requirements. “The past few months have been and still are a major challenge for the industry and also for our brewing group,” said Heuskel.

The traditional brewery was hit particularly hard by the pandemic. Dahm had already called the first corona year “terrible”. Because Bitburger is traditionally very strong in the draft beer business. The proportion of catering and events business is usually around 30 percent for the Bitburger and König Pilsner brands.

The closure of pubs and restaurants and the cancellation of folk festivals and football games had a negative impact. Group-wide sales fell by twelve percent in 2020. Bitburger had to cut around 130 out of 1,800 jobs.

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In the second Corona year 2021, sales fell by a further 2.7 percent to 634 million euros. The flood disaster in the Ahr valley in the immediate vicinity also had an effect, said Dahm. “Given the circumstances, this is a reasonable result,” he said when the figures were presented in March.

The psychologist previously worked as a marketing expert at the cigarette manufacturer Reemtsma. Later he was CEO at the spirits and beverages manufacturer Berentzen. Since 2008 he has headed the strategy, marketing and sales departments at Gerolsteiner, a mineral water company in which Bitburger holds a majority stake.

Dahm’s record at Bitburger is sobering

In terms of domestic sales, the Bitburger Group is the fourth largest brewing group in Germany – after Radeberger, AB Inbev and Krombacher. The determined drinks info. The family business has existed for seven generations. Jan Niewodniczanski from the owner family is also on the management board. He is responsible for technology and the environment and drives forward the conversion to climate neutrality.

>> Read here: Tannenzäpfle – How the Rothaus state brewery achieves climate neutrality and crisis security

According to industry insider Hermann Walschebauer, the record of Dahm’s tenure as head of Bitburger is sobering: “Between 2016 and 2021, 435,000 hectoliters were lost. That’s the worst result of any top ten brewery.” According to the Federal Statistical Office, domestic sales of beer across the industry fell to seven billion liters in 2021, down 8.6 percent from the year before the pandemic.

Bitburg beer

During the pandemic, there was little demand for draft beer because restaurants were closed and folk festivals and events were cancelled.

(Photo: Bitburger)

Dahm’s strategies had little effect. In 2020, Bitburger separated from the Wernesgrüner brand. She was sold to Carlsberg Germany. The König Pilsner brand continues to be a problem child. According to Walschebauer, the Bitburger subsidiary König Brauerei lost over 200,000 hectoliters of sales between 2016 and 2021.

Looking for high-volume innovations

Innovations did not ignite there either. A so-called red beer was discontinued after a year. “There is a lack of impetus for new products,” says Walschebauer. “Dahm, who was able to demonstrate significant successes at Gerolsteiner, did not succeed in innovatively realigning the brewing group.”

Some competitors, however, have worked their way out of the crisis better with product innovations. For example, sales at the Veltins private brewery have recently increased despite the pandemic. The new retro brand “Helles Pülleken” provided impetus.

In the meantime, not only the pandemic, but also the Ukraine war and the wave of inflation are burdening the German brewing industry and thus also Bitburger. “Unfortunately, we are used to delivery bottlenecks and cost increases – the corona crisis has already hit the brewing industry hard,” says the managing director of the German Brewers’ Association, Holger Eichele. What is happening right now explodes all dimensions. “We are seeing unprecedented price increases for raw materials, packaging, energy and logistics,” says Eichele.

Bitburger now wants to tackle the diverse challenges with a new head at the helm. A successor for the areas of marketing and sales has not yet been determined. It is also unclear who will take on the role of spokesman for the management in the future.

More: “The Purity Law also applies to our electricity”: What Bitburger is doing to combat climate change

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