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Macedonian Thrace Brewery (Greek: Ζυθοποιία Μακεδονίας Θράκης) is a Greek brewery, founded in 1996, based in Komotini and Vergina Beer is its signature product. It also has branches in Athens and Thessaloniki.

History

A Greek American chemical engineer, Demetri Politopoulos, with a Diploma in Brewing Technology from Siebel Institute of Technology in Chicago, and his brother during a trip to North Mexico, searching for investment opportunities, showed enthusiasm over the variety and the number of beer brands of the country. After returning to their hometown, Manhattan, while they were having a conversation about beers they started wondering which beers were drinking while back in Greece. Soon, Demetri figured out none of the beer trademarks in Greece were actually having Greek interests and almost in every country a significant rate of the inland consumption of beer was fulfilled by local breweries.

Macedonian Thrace Brewery S.A. was founded on February 1, 1996 and the Industrial area of Komotini was selected as the seat of the company facilities due to its infrastructures, the well organised business environment and its motives. The main goal of the newly founded company was the production of the "first Greek beer" under the trade name "Vergina"(Greek pronunciation: [verʝˈina]). Thus, the construction of the brewery began and lasted until the fall of 1997. After some problems at the production, Vergina Beer finally managed to release on February 18, 1998. Some of the difficulties occurred caused by the unfair competition tactics for which Athenian Brewery, a Heineken subsidiary company, later was found guilty by the court, but had already affected the growth of the company. Nowadays, The market share of the company ranges between around 5 and 7 percent.

The company introduced first the concept of contract farming to Greece in 2006 and as of 2019 the contracted acreage exceeded the 35,000 acres in Macedonia and Thrace.

In 2013 Vergina Weiss won the Silver Medal and the second place for MTB in the "Speciality Wheat Beer" category at the International Brewing Awards competition, the oldest one since 1886. In 2014 and 2018 again Vergina Weiss won the Bronze and Silver Medal accordingly, in the "South German-Style Hefeweizen Hell" category at the European Beer Star competition. In 2020 the company launched a new beer product, Vergina Alcohol Free, a low-alcohol beer (almost zero), and proceeded to a general rebranding with the formation of a new logo, graphics and products packaging.

Products

The Brewery mainly produces Vergina Premium Lager, Vergina Red, Vergina Weiss, Vergina Porfyra Vergina XXX Black and Vergina Alcohol Free, but is also the producer for Edelsteiner, Hillas and Prost beer trademarks.

Vergina beer products are exported since 1999 in US, England, Italy, Australia, Japan, Netherlands, Turkey, Bulgaria, Cyprus and more.

Former packaging and branding.

• Former Vergina Beer glass and bottle packaging until July 2020.
• Former Vergina Beer logo until July 2020.

References List

1. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 29, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. "Βεργίνα: Η μπύρα που 'μιλάει' ελληνικά". Capital.gr (in Greek).
3. "Η "Βεργίνα" κερδίζει έδαφος στον "πόλεμο" της αγοράς μπύρας". Η «Βεργίνα» κερδίζει έδαφος στον «πόλεμο» της αγοράς μπύρας.
4. "Η Βεργίνα παρουσιάζει το πρώτο ελληνικό βυνοποείο". Fortunegreece.com (in Greek). November 7, 2013.
5. "Ελληνική βύνη "φυτρώνει" στη Βεργίνα - Κατακτάει ζυθοποιεία όλης της χώρας". www.xronos.gr (in Greek).
6. "Contact form | Vergina Beer". www.verginabeer.com. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
7. "2011 Ruban d'Honneur recipient for Entrepreneur of the year award: Macedonian Thrace Brewery".
8. ^ "Το ΒΗΜΑ onLine – ΡΕΠΟΡΤΑΖ". September 18, 2007. Archived from the original on September 18, 2007. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
9. Thomas, Landon Jr (December 11, 2015). "In Greece, Brewer's Woes Reflect Struggle of Business Owners". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
10. "Heineken loses legal battle in Greece – Drinks International – The global choice for drinks buyers". drinksint.com. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
11. "Heineken subsidiary handed 31.5 million euro record Greek fine". Reuters. December 2, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
12. "Greece going beer crazy as microbreweries proliferate, Dimitra Manifava | Kathimerini". www.ekathimerini.com. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
13. "Ο ελληνικός πόλεμος της μπίρας | Κική Τριανταφύλλη". Protagon.gr (in Greek). Retrieved April 11, 2020.
14. Voria.gr. "Η "Βεργίνα" κερδίζει έδαφος στον "πόλεμο" της αγοράς μπύρας". Η «Βεργίνα» κερδίζει έδαφος στον «πόλεμο» της αγοράς μπύρας. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
15. "Η δύναµη του νερού στη δοµή της µπύρας" (PDF). Beer and Brunch.
16. "Brewing Awards – Welcome to the International Brewing Awards, incorporating The International Cider Awards". brewingawards.org. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
17. "European Beer Star – List of winners". european-beer-star.com. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
18. "Νέα εταιρική ταυτότητα και λανσαρίσματα για τη ΒΕΡΓΙΝΑ". Agronews (in Greek). Retrieved July 16, 2020.
19. Team, The Untappd. "Untappd". Untappd. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
20. Voria.gr. "Η "Βεργίνα" κερδίζει έδαφος στον "πόλεμο" της αγοράς μπύρας". Η «Βεργίνα» κερδίζει έδαφος στον «πόλεμο» της αγοράς μπύρας. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
21. "Beers of Greece – Greek Gastronomy | Greeka.com". Greekacom. Retrieved April 11, 2020.

• Breweries in Greece
• Beer in Greece
• Greek brands
• Komotini
• Greek companies established in 1996
• Food and drink companies established in 1996