The Halve Maan Brewery is investing
The Halve Maan (Half Moon) Brewery is investing in a new beer processing plant on the Waggelwater Industrial Estate in Bruges. The brewery will be spending no less than 4 million euros on the purchase of new premises and new equipment, including filtration, keg-filling and bottling systems, as well as an extensive logistic centre. The new plant will be a green-field project, which will group these various activities in a prime location just outside the city. During the first phase, a number of new jobs will also be created. Notwithstanding the financial crisis, the brewery is prepared to invest heavily in order to further increase both growth and production capacity.
For these new activities, the Halve Maan Brewery has purchased the former premises of the Eltebe Coach Company, situated on the Lieven Bauwensstraat (Waggelwater) in Bruges. This site is ideally located, being easily accessible yet still relatively close to the city centre. The brewery wishes to emphasise that the new project does not mean that it intends to transfer its activities away from the present site on the Walplein. Significant investment has been made in this site in recent years and it is our firm intention to continue with these activities. Every litre of ‘city’ beer will therefore continue to be brewed in our original and authentic location within the old city walls, as has been the case for centuries! Successive investment programmes have resulted in increased capacity and reduced levels of environmental pollution (noise, smell, etc.) for the neighbourhood. With the modernised installations which it now possesses, the brewery is even in a position to further increase its city-centre production in the coming years.
The activities which will be carried out at the new plant – the filling of bottle and kegs – are currently sub-contracted to an independent brewery in Melle. From now on, the Halve Maan will perform these activities itself, at the new Waggelwater site. These are the activities which create most ‘nuisance’ and are therefore least suited to the city-centre location on the Walplein. The new plant should be operational by the summer of 2010.
A few weeks ago the Halve Maan Brewery also took over a German brewery which was on the point of closure. This was the Brauerei Wolf in Fuchsstadt, which was famous for its state-of-the-art installations, which were the main reasons for the purchase. These installations will be dismantled this week and transferred to Bruges. This will be a spectacular process, involving the removal of the filtration system and the keg-filling and bottling lines. The Halve Maan Brewery plans to invest further in the newest techniques and in the far-reaching automation of the production process. This will ensure the excellent quality of our beer well into the future and will also allow full compliance with the regulations relating to food safety and traceability. This means that in addition to the equipment from Fuchsstadt, several other investments in new material are planned for the months ahead.
