Decision on negotiations over the future production structure in Carlsberg Sweden

Carlsberg Sweden is to begin negotiations with trade unions in Carlsberg Sweden AB to phase out its production and warehouse activities at its brewery in Gothenburg.
A thorough investigation of the production structure carried out over the last few months has shown that concentrating production of beer and soft drinks at its two breweries in Stockholm and Falkenberg is the economically correct decision. The Ramlösa business near Helsingborg will not be effected by the decision..

The ambition is for negotiations to be completed by August this year at the latest and that brewery production at Gothenburg will be phased out by April 2002 and the warehouse by October 2002.
As a result it is expected that around 280 of Gothenburg's 440 employees will lose their jobs. Of these, 100 will be offered new jobs in Falkenberg and Stockholm. A comprehensive outplacement programme will be put into action to help the surplus workers find new employment.

The background for the decision to phase out production at one of the company's three breweries is the significant overcapacity in the Swedish brewing industry. Total beer sales in Sweden have fallen by 15% since 1994, primarily because of growth of legal and illegal private imports, estimated to be around 1.2 million hectolitres a year, from neighbouring countries that have significantly lower duty rates. That is double the amount of beer produced by the brewery in Gothenburg.

At the same time, Carlsberg Sweden now has two breweries on the west coast of Sweden after the merger of Falcon and Pripps.