De Brabandere Brewery has a rich history. The dream of founder Adolphe De Brabandere when he laid the foundation in 1818 have come to fruition in the successful brewing business of today. Still in the hands of the same family, current CEO Albert De Brabandere, alongside International Retail Manager Steven Verhaeghe, explained more to Hannah Barnett.
Brewing has always been an art at De Brabandere. The company’s numerous characterful beers are known for traditional craftsmanship and a superior taste. But what is the secret?
“It’s simple,” said Albert De Brabandere, CEO. “Our beer is the best because we use old fashioned recipes, quality ingredients and state-of-art facilities. Everything we have left at the end of a year, we reinvest into production,
to avoid the biggest enemies of brewing: heat, oxidation and light. Our Bavik Super Pils is the best example. We only use aroma hops; we don’t use bitter hops. Aroma hops are half as efficient and double the price, but they will give a much better taste, right at the back of the throat.”
The brewery takes around 40 days to make its world-famous pilsner. Larger breweries can ferment in a quarter of the time, but
the final product will lack stabilisation. More stable beers, such as those brewed at De Brabandere, travel better, though they are more costly to produce because they must stay in a fermenter longer.
“Our combination of traditional recipes and a refusal to cut any corners is why our pilsner has been selected so many times as the best in the world,” said Mr De Brabandere. “We are not the cheapest, not even in the
Belgian market. But we cannot give the best taste for the cheapest price, although we are not going to charge a premium either.
But we chose quality first.”
Decades of change
For the last 130 years, the De Brabandere story has been one of resilience. The First World War completely devastated the region, but the company was able to survive thanks
to a combination of good luck and smart action.
“There was another business within the family at the time, making bricks,” explained Mr De Brabandere. “Bricks are obviously key in rebuilding, along with labour, and a workforce usually wants a drink at the end of the day. My great grandfather collaborated with his cousin, to transport bricks together with beer. That was one of the reasons why we were able to start back up pretty quickly after World War One.”
Mr De Brabandere’s grandfather showed similar nous during the Second World War, when he dismantled his truck into spare
parts before the German army confiscated everything of value. This meant, after the war, the business was one of the first in the region with a truck.
“It’s not about always growing; it’s also about getting better,” said Mr De Brabandere. “I think the next important milestone was when my grandfather started distribution through wholesalers at the end of the ‘70s. We used to do only local on-trades, and we did everything ourselves through the company supply chain. Then, at the beginning of the ‘90s, my father started exports.”
Covid brought the most recent twist in the tale, when the company lost around 80% of
its on-trade business overnight. De Brabandere has been building a brand-based retail business in Belgium, and beyond, ever since.
Brewing partnerships
Just before Christmas 2024, De Brabandere celebrated its 130th birthday with a party for all 100 staff members and their partners. The brewery has always been based at the same location in Bavikhove, a village in the east of Belgium.
Thanks to a surplus of space, De Brabandere has been able to successfully expand the site over the years. Significant investment programmes have included new warehouses, a new bottling line and a renovation of the brew house. An upgraded canning line is due
next. The brewery has a production capacity of around 200,000-hectolitres and a turnover of €33 million, 50% of which now comes from export.
The company works closely with its suppliers, many of whom it has been partnering with for decades. De Brabandere utilises a range of key suppliers to ensure reliability.
“It has been obvious since Covid how important a strong relationship with a supplier is,” Mr De Brabandere explained. “We need backups. That’s why we always have three malt suppliers, three bottle suppliers and three cardboard box suppliers. We’ve been around for 130 years so our suppliers know that we won’t disappear. We are not that one young, cool brewery that is here today, and maybe very successful, but gone tomorrow.”
The De Brabandere production process is highly sustainable, with everything brewed by local source water. The company also has its own wastewater plant to reduce the amount of water needed per litre of beer. With solar panels recently installed, the brewery now derives 40% of its electricity from that source, as well producing around 30% of heat via natural gas.
Exporting the brand
De Brabandere has been present in the UK market for some time, but recently decided to expand further. This is hot off the heels of a successful expansion project in France, where it set up a team and a logistics hub.
“We have some brands that would perfectly fit the UK market,” said Mr De Brabandere.
“There are so many great local breweries now in the UK, thanks to the craft beer revolution. Consumers have been upgraded in their mentality of drinking good beers, so they will be more open to Belgian specialty beers too. I think this is a good moment to start offering our products to retail in the UK.”
This means understanding how to launch the beer into UK supermarkets and finding the right partners to do so. Additionally, having already launched a beer linked to cycling in Belgium, De Brabandere aims create a beer for rugby fans in the UK market.
“2025 will be the year we start up business with retail in the UK,” explained Steven Verhaeghe, International Retail Manager. “2026 should be about trying to get more
listings and visibility on our beers, probably with some investment in certain retailers.
We have a professional agility that means we can move very efficiently in short spaces. That’s our main goal when it comes to getting a foot in the door in the UK.”
It is clear that, along with an illustrious past, the future is also bright for De Brabandere.
“The work is not always easy, but it’s very gratifying,” Mr De Brabandere concluded. “We are all about building teams and creating brands and new stories to go along with it. Storytelling has also become crucial in the last 10 years. For me, trying to get that strategic position right so that my sales team can go hit the road, is the most fun part about what we do.” n
