Azerbaijan: Carlsberg to build new malting plant

Carlsberg Azerbaijan, the country’s largest brewing company, is building a new malt processing plant in Azerbaijan to be launched in 2024. The news was made public during a meeting of Carlsberg CEO Cees ‘t Hart with Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan at the World Economic Forum in Davos that ended last week.

The pilot project of Carlsberg Azerbaijan and Azersheker for the localization of barley started in 2019. In 2021, the first beer of the flagship beer brand Xırdalan brewed from the locally cultivated barley was introduced. Lars Lehmann, Executive Vice-President for Central and Eastern Europe region of Carlsberg Group, said at that time the barley grown in Azerbaijan met all the standards imposed by the company.

During the meeting in Davos, ‘t Hart noted that Carlsberg Azerbaijan has already localized 100 percent of barley processing in Azerbaijan, and the localization of malt processing will be brought to 100 percent in the near future when the new malting plant starts operation.

"The company wants raw materials and other goods that are necessary for the production to be 100 percent local. In this regard, a cooperation agreement has been reached with Azersheker, which will provide us with malting barley. It's also planned to establish local production of labels and bottles," Alius Antulis, Managing Director of Carlsberg Azerbaijan LLC told Trend last October.

In the last years the company has invested AZN 160 million (USD 94 million) in the country's economy and intends to invest an additional AZN 25 million (USD 15 million) in the near future.

Azerbaijan cultivates barley on over 300,000 hectares. Aran is the country's major barley-producing region that accounts for 50% of total barley production, followed by Daglig-Shirvan (8%) and Ganja-Qazakh (8%)

 In 2020, Azerbaijan imported barley worth USD 10.5 million, and malt worth USD 6.67 million, mainly from Russia (USD 3.9 million), Germany (USD 2.28 million), Ukraine (USD 209,000), Belgium (USD135,000), and Hungary (USd 52.000).

The Carlsberg Azerbaijan brewery is located in the city of Khirdalan, 10 kilometers from the capital of Azerbaijan. In 2020, the production capacity of the plant was 800,000 hectoliters per year. 260 people worked in the company and about 400 people work indirectly (distributors, agencies, contractors). The company's portfolio includes such brands like Xırdalan, Tuborg, Baltika, Kuler, Əfsanə, Carlsberg, Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc, Seth & Riley's Garage, etc.

Share this article: