In the Swiss beer industry, the Appenzeller Locher brewery is joining Chopfab-Boxer from Winterthur with immediate effect. Chopfab-Boxer is in financial difficulties. However, the approximately 80 employees should be able to keep their jobs. The Locher brewery is the new majority shareholder of the Chopfab Boxer brewery. The prerequisite for this was a haircut.
Negotiations took place for a long time, now it is clear: the Appenzeller brewery Locher is joining the Winterthur brewery Chopfab-Boxer. The Winterthur company is in financial difficulties. At the end of 2023, Chopfab announced that it needed a restructuring and a rescue plan. Otherwise the brewery, which is best known for its black cans, would be in danger of going out of business.
We are involved, but it is not a merger.
The Locher brewery was then asked whether it would like to take part in the rescue operation. And the Appenzell brewery is now joining as the new majority shareholder. Managing director Aurèle Meyer says in Radio SRF’s Eastern Switzerland regional journal: “We were able to successfully complete the renovation of Chopfab Boxer. However, the companies remain independent. We are involved, but it is not a merger or absorption.”
Legend: The Locher brewery in Appenzell. imago
The prerequisite for the Locher Brewery’s entry was a haircut. This means that banks, suppliers, shareholders and other participants in Chopfab-Boxer had to forgive the ailing company’s debts.
There were tough negotiations between Appenzell and Winterthur. But successful ones, says Aurèle Meyer: “No one gives up money voluntarily. But many saw that bankruptcy would have been the greater evil.”
Bankruptcy has now been averted, and there are no plans to cut jobs for the approximately 80 Chopfab Boxer employees at the Winterthur and Yverdon-les-Bains locations, Locher managing director Meyer continued.
Chopfab: Victim of your own success
The tight financial situation of the hip Chopfab-Boxer brewery has been an issue in the beer industry for a long time. Founded in 2012, the company has grown quickly. The competition rubbed their eyes at how quickly it found its way into bars and store shelves. Industry insiders suspected that high listing fees were paid.
The question of how long this could last remained persistent in the industry. Barely established, Chopfab took over the Boxer brewery in French-speaking Switzerland in 2017. But Chopfab Boxer became a victim of his own success. “We were forced to grow so quickly that we never had a chance to repay the debt. And so they got bigger and bigger,” said founder Philip Bucher in February.
Punch is getting bigger and bigger
The help from Appenzell comes at the right time. Once the debt has been reduced, the Locher brewery should inject fresh capital and also invest in the future. Sustainable growth is now required.
For the Locher brewery, which is already the third largest player in the Swiss beer market, behind Feldschlösschen and Heineken (including Eichhof and Calanda), it is further growth. The Appenzell company only recently joined Egger Bier from Worb (BE).
Legend: The Locher brewery from Appenzell brews, among other things, the Quöllfrisch, which is known throughout Switzerland. imago
It is not possible to precisely quantify the rise in holes; also because many breweries do not publish detailed sales figures. But managing director Aurèle Meyer says that by joining Chopfab-Boxer, every ninth beer will come from the brewery in Appenzell. The company employs around 180 people in-house.