Martens Brewery: Growth through Innovation and a Pioneering Spirit – Supported by KHS
Martens Brewery from Bocholt in Belgium has always been known for its forward thinking and pioneering spirit. In its eighth generation, it's now run by Fons and Jan Martens. When they took on the brewery at the beginning of the 1990s, sales were at just 300,000 hectoliters a year; this has since increased tenfold. In 2011 Martens sold three million hectoliters of beer, with 85% of their brew going to Europe and especially Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Sweden, and England. Outside Europe the Asian markets are showing increasing interest in the product. Martens is also present in Israel, the USA, and Australia.
Martens Brewery consciously concentrates on the entry-level price segment, largely producing generic brands. On request the company also contract fills for other breweries. Martens has proved a pioneer in many areas. For example, it was Martens who came up with a plausible non-returnable PET concept for Aldi Germany after introduction of the can deposit system. The brewery has now been supplying the discounter for 50 years – not least thanks to its willingness to tread new paths. Martens is always up front when it comes to the timely development of new sales areas. Besides owning two breweries in Belgium, for example, since 2008 the company has held minority shares in a Chinese brewery and since 2000 the majority interest in a brewery in Romania.
Martens is also a leader when it comes to exploiting new technologies, ordering both the Innocheck EBI empty bottle inspector in 2010 and the Innofill Glass DRS-ZMS in 2011 while still on show at the Brau Beviale exhibition, for instance. Martens is also one of the first breweries worldwide to use the protective Plasmax barrier coating for PET bottles. What's more, in the case of the Innopro ECOSTAB Martens immediately opted for the pilot project, notching up a further technological advantage.
"We've been working with KHS equipment since 1968", says Jan Martens. "In this time we've come to greatly appreciate KHS as a partner who's able to embrace new ideas with us, and who gives us plenty of additional expertise along with its technology. We consider KHS to be a clear technological leader, from whom we, as a pioneering brewery, can only profit."
In the future, too, Martens Brewery sees itself as an international brewery with Belgian roots who wishes to continue making a name for itself in the entry-level price segment – and who thinks the stability and profitability of the business are more important than simply boosting hectoliter sales. "One of the things our business is based on is particularly efficient and high-quality production methods", states Jan Martens, "and here we'd like to keep on being a pioneer in the brewing industry."
