Investment with a Social Component
Innokeg Till Contikeg for Siberian brewery Bochkari
Bochkari Brewery in the south of Siberia is the pride and joy of its employees, town and local region. Located in the little town of Bochkari, the brewery has been up and running since 1989 and is something of a success story. Up until the mid 1990s the company's sales totaled around 10,000 hectoliters of beer a year. By 2000, this figure had risen to approximately 30,000 hectoliters per annum. In 2011 the brewery sold an impressive 500,000 hectoliters of beer, 200,000 hectoliters of kvass, and 100,000 hectoliters of non-alcoholic beverages.Managing director Vadim Petrovich Smagin primarily attributes this incredible boost in sales over the last ten years to the strict quality strategy the brewery adopts that goes far beyond the norm. "For us, quality not only means the quality of the product. It's also the quality of the cooperation between us and our business partners and of the positive relationship to our company employees and the local population, both within the town and the region as a whole", states Smagin.
The brewery has enjoyed an excellent relationship with KHS, for example, since 2000 and their first investment in KHS keg technology. Today, three Innokeg Till Transomat 3/1 and three Innokeg Till Transomat 5/1 inline machines are in use at the plant. Just recently the company invested in a new Innokeg Till Contikeg, thus again increasing their keg line output. This makes Bochkari the brewery with the highest keg system capacity in Russia. Smagin's summary of his experience with the new line is short and succinct. "With our Innokeg Till Contikeg we've hit the jackpot yet again. This technical setup is just as perfect as KHS' service. We see KHS as a partner we can trust who has done much to contribute to our story of success."
The brewery itself also makes a major contribution when it comes to maintaining good contacts to its employees and the local populace. For instance, Bochkari is actively involved in and financially supports various sports and cultural ventures and local educational and healthcare projects. The most recent campaign was to renovate the local school, kindergarten, and hospital. Smagin declares, "We believe that our environment should also profit from the outstanding development of our brewery. Only in this way can our brewery gain recognition and be treated with pride – and Bochkari beer, kvass, soda pop, and drinking water be associated with something positive."
Incidentally, after introducing the Innokeg Till Contikeg to the brewery Bochkari then made a further investment with KHS – this time in two semiautomatic KHS Petainer keg racking systems. "We see the Petainer keg as a container with perspective when it comes to distributing our products across long distances", explains Smagin. "Designed as a one-way container, these kegs don't have to be returned to us, thus freeing up company capital."
