60,000 b/h Chinese brewery

Over the past two decades, the growth rate of China’s beer market has been gigantic and there is still no lean period in sight. For example, within a couple of years the Tsingtao Brewery will be brewing as much beer on its own as all of the breweries in Germany put together.

In 1903, German settlers founded the Germania Brewery in the German colony of Tsingtao. The Tsingtao Brewery grew, was nationalised, and evolved into China’s biggest brewery.

In 1993, Tsingtao Brewery then became the first Chinese company to be listed on the stock exchange and Anheuser-Busch bought a 5% holding. By 1996, the output had risen to three million hectolitres. Then the market exploded.

Ten years later, Tsingtao’s beer output had increased fifteenfold, to 45 million hectolitres. In this decade, Tsingtao has acquired more than 50 local and regional breweries all over the country, as foreign breweries were unable to gain a foothold and tended to withdraw after a time.

By 2002, China had already outstripped the USA and Germany in terms of beer consumption. In the same year, Tsingtao entered into an official partnership with Anheuser-Busch. By 2015, China will presumptively be accounting for half of the global increase in beer production output, most of it for domestic consumption.

In 2007, China’s beer output came to just under 390 million hectolitres, and in 2008 to more than 400 million hectolitres. In parallel, the output of Tsingtao beer rose from 50 million hectolitres in 2007 to 54 million hectolitres in 2008, from an installed capacity of 80 million hectolitres.

In 2007, Tsingtao was overtaken by the China Resources Brewery, which has scored with a series of acquisitions. In terms of turnover, currently running at around 1.5 billion euros, however, Tsingtao remains the frontrunner.

At present, Tsingtao operates 53 breweries all over China. Five of these were built as entirely new facilities and three others relocated. Tsingtao has discontinued its strategy of taking over existing breweries and is now concentrating on greenfield projects. The most recent example is the brewery in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province.

This brewery houses the first high-speed line in China’s brewing sector, rated at 60,000 bottles per hour, and can serve as a blueprint for projects in the future.

The new brewery went into operation in January 2008, following a construction time of just 274 days - nine months from laying the foundation stone to final completion. The first phase, now up and running, is dimensioned for an output of three million hectolitres; in a second phase, the capacity will be doubled.

In the brewhouse, five kettles have been installed so far, all of them automated using Steinecker’s process technology, and there is space for as many again.

In the bottling hall, Tsingtao has installed a 36,000 bph line from a domestic manufacturer plus a 60,000 bph line from Krones. This reference line is the first beer bottling line of this speed ever in the Chinese brewing sector. It handles about 40% non-returnables and 60% returnable bottles in the 500 and 600 mL sizes.

Better results in the long term

Li Jian, who before Jinan had spent more than 20 years at the Tsingtao II brewery, is very familiar with Krones’ technology. “We opted for Krones’ technology, because it gives us definite advantages: less downtime, high efficiency and reliability, coupled with good product quality. In the long term, particularly, we achieve better results. A 60,000 bph line, of course, is a bit more sensitive than a 30,000 bph line, so the craftsmanship has to be better than you would need for a slower line. It’s also important to have enough buffering sections.”

A model project for the international brewing world

The Deputy General Manager of the Tsingtao Group, Huang Ke Xing, sees the greenfield project in Jinan as the standard brewery for future projects in China and as a consummate example for the international brewing community. Huang Ke Xing can look back on plenty of experience with Krones lines. In all, 14 of the approximately 100 bottling lines that Tsingtao operates all over China are from Krones, while most of the others are from local manufacturers.

Krones is responsible for 20% of Tsingtao’s bottling capacities. All the draft beer, for instance, meaning it’s not pasteurised after filling, is bottled on Krones lines.

New brand strategy

Tsingtao Brewery will in future be concentrating on four brands, in line with its ‘one plus three’ strategy. Tsingtao is the main brand, positioned in the medium to premium segment. Three consumer brands complement the core brand in specific regions: in the north-west of China, the brand is called Hans, in the south, east and south-west it is Shan Shui, and in Shandong Province it is Lao Shan, so that in each of the regions concerned a ‘one plus one’ strategy is adopted, featuring Tsingtao and the relevant consumer brand.

Half of the quantitative growth worldwide happened in China

Huang Ke Xing faces the future with confidence, not just for Tsingtao, but for the entire Chinese beer market. “Compared to the rest of the world, our growth has been enormously strong. China accounts for about half of quantitative global growth in recent years. That’s why a lot of foreign breweries have invested here. This results in fiercer competition, more takeovers, but driven by further growth. We’re now operating on a globalised market, and are competing with the world’s premier beer brands,” explains the Vice-President.

At the beginning of 2009, AB-Inbev sold its stock to the Japanese Asahi Brewery, which now owns a 19.99% holding in Tsingtao. “We have a very good relationship with Asahi,” explains Huang Ke Xing. “Back in 1989, we joined forces to take over the Shenzen Brewery; in 2000, we cooperated on a beverage bottling facility in Qingdao; and since 2008, we’ve been jointly operating another brewery in Yan Tai. Asahi and Tsingtao are old friends, and this new bond will improve our relationship still further.”