Bavarian Export Hit – the Bräuhaus

 
"To the Chinese, Germany means Bavaria and Bavaria means Paulaner,"says Jürgen Schenk, Managing Director of Paulaner Bräuhaus Consult.The Paulaner breweries and pubs are not entirely devoid of responsibilityfor this ‘beer-and-Bavaria' image of Germany that the Chinesehave. The first Paulaner Bräuhaus outside Munich was launched twentyyears ago in Beijing. With a daily average of 600 litres of beer, it putsmost German brew houses in the shade.
 
Its 18 international outlets put the Paulaner Bräuhaus amongst the few German concepts that have dared to venture onto the global stage and made a resounding success of it. This worldwide expansion was, however, not exactly planned. "The Paulaner Bräuhaus in Beijing was initially thought up as a one-off," remembers the original Head Brewer in China, Jürgen Schenk. "At that time, nobody had any idea of further development." The impetus for moving into China - at that stage, still hardly heard of in business circles - came from outside. At the end of the 1980s, the Kempinski Hotel Group was planning its first hotel abroad and was looking for a suitable F&B concept. After a long process of checks and numerous incognito visits to the recently opened Paulaner brewery-restaurant in Munich, Kempinski finally came knocking at their door. "Without any great expectations and without any intensive market research, Paulaner agreed," reports Schenk. "They were flying a kite." Today, 20 years later, the first Head Brewer is now Managing Director of Paulaner Bräuhaus Consult and is responsible for setting the compass and expanding the business abroad. That original kite they flew has become an important area of growth. China, with its 13 Bräuhaus on the mainland and one Bräuhaus in Taiwan, is the most important market so far. But let's go back to the beginning: in the autumn of 1992 the first Paulaner Bräuhaus outside Germany opened its doors in Beijing. The formula followed that of its Munich forefather: a traditional range of Bavarian food, beers brewed on the premises and a cosy, rustic German ‘pub' atmosphere.
 
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| 13 June 2012 |