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Brewery Oettinger closes: 110 jobs in Braunschweig are on the brink!
The Oettinger brewery will close its Braunschweig location at the end of 2025 due to falling beer sales and high costs.
Brewery Oettinger closes: 110 jobs in Braunschweig are on the brink!
A drastic step for the brewery landscape in Germany: The Oettinger Brewery will close its location in Braunschweig. This decision was announced a few days ago and is now scheduled to be implemented at the end of 2025, after the closure had already been postponed to 2026. Beer production will be relocated to other locations, although Braunschweig will remain an important logistics center for the company. The entire process was initiated as part of a restructuring course by company boss Stefan Blaschak, who wants to transform Oettinger into a broader beverage company.
The dramatic decline in beer sales in Germany and rising energy prices played a role in this decision. Beer sales in Germany fell below four billion liters in the first half of 2025, down 6.3 percent compared to the previous year. This is the first fall below this mark in more than 30 years. Generation Z in particular drinks less beer than previous generations, a trend that poses major challenges not only to Oettinger but to the entire industry. The catering industry is also suffering from high prices and uncertainty, which affects beer consumption, reports ZDF today.
Social plan for employees
The impact on the approximately 120 employees in the brewery is serious. Around 110 of them will lose their jobs, while ten employees will remain employed in the logistics sector. The affected employees have received Christmas notices of termination and will be moving to a transfer company from January 2026, where they will receive compensation payments. A social plan has already been established for the approximately 140 employees to support them in their professional reorientation. The NGG union is also critical and calls for more support for employees NDR reported.
The closure of the Oettinger Brewery is in many ways symptomatic of the current situation of German breweries. Outdated technology and persistently weak beer sales are putting more and more companies under pressure. The Oettinger Group was looking for an investor, but the takeover failed, so the closure became unavoidable. A beverage producer showed interest in the old equipment, but not in the brewery itself, which further complicated the situation.
A look back at beer consumption
The reasons for the decline in beer sales are varied. In addition to rising prices, changing consumer behavior among the population means that sales are booming, particularly for beer blends and non-alcoholic beers. While the previously popular classic beers are in less demand, products such as Radler and non-alcoholic beer are enjoying increasing popularity. The Brauer-Bund therefore expresses concern about geopolitical risks and uncertainties in the export business, which further increase the pressure on the industry.
It remains to be seen how the closure of the Oettinger Brewery in Braunschweig will affect the local market. However, these developments are anything but positive for the employees affected and the beverage market as a whole.