Biggest Swiss brewer to offer home deliveries

Feldschlössen, controlled by the Danish giant Carlsberg, will start the home delivery service on October 26th, Sonntagszeitung reported.

The Beer4you site will enable customers to order more than 60 national and international beers, the German-language newspaper said.

Delivery will be made within two days, the weekly said.

The move comes as Feldschlössen faces a tougher environment in the retail sector.

“in order to bring more people into stores, retailers are increasingly demanding cut-price beer,” company director Thomas Amstutz is quoted as saying.

This is reducing the brewer’s margins.

The company, based in the canton of Aarau, is hoping to become less dependent on retail outlets through online sales.

Amstutz said the measure is also a direct response to the strong Swiss franc.

The high value of the currency compared to the euro has led to a drop in the number of tourists to Switzerland from the EU, which has led in turn to a fall in the volume of beer consumed in bars and restaurants.

It has also encouraged shops to increase the number of promotional offers in a bid to counter cross-border shopping by Swiss residents travelling to neighbouring EU countries, such as Germany and France.

Feldschlössen has already responded to the tighter margins by imposing a freeze on hiring.

Amstutz said he expects no change in competition from the planned merger of the world’s two biggest brewers, Anheuser-Busch In Bev and SABMiller.

“The two groups are not strongly represented in Switzerland with their products and brew no beer here,” he said.