The Żywiec Group, a subsidiary of Heineken, announced it will close the historic Namysłów Brewery, one of Poland’s oldest, at the start of 2026. Brewing at the site dates back to 1321, marking over 700 years of tradition. Żywiec cited a “declining beer market and rising costs and taxes” as the reasons for the shutdown. The company purchased the brewery in 2018 from the Chicago Poland Investment Group (inside.beer, 14.11.29018) for 500 million zloty (about 132 million USD).
The closure will affect around 100 employees, who will receive severance and transition support in coordination with trade unions. According to WBJ, Namysłów’s municipal authorities are in ongoing discussions with Żywiec and are offering administrative and investment incentives to attract new investors to continue production at the site.
Mayor Jacek Fior emphasized that the brewery has long been tied to the town’s identity, describing it as “the second-oldest continually operating enterprise in Poland after the Wieliczka salt mine.” He expressed hope that the brewery’s closure would be “only a turning point” rather than the end of its history.
Namysłów is not the first Żywiec site to be shuttered; production at the Leżajsk brewery was also halted in 2023. These moves reflect broader challenges in Poland’s beer industry, where consumption has dropped by about 5% and production by 13% over the past five years, according to Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. Despite this decline, the market value has grown by 31% since 2019 due to higher prices, reaching 22.9 billion zloty (6.03 billion USD) by the end of last year.
Poland remains the EU’s third-largest beer producer, following Germany and Spain, accounting for 10.6% of total EU beer output, or 3.4 billion liters in 2024, according to Eurostat.
