Carlsberg buys London Fields Brewery

The deal, first revealed by MA ​sister title MCA​​ this morning (3 July), will be carried out as a joint venture between Carlsberg and Brooklyn Brewery.

Momen said: "We're thrilled to add London Fields Brewery to our growing portfolio of great quality craft and speciality beers.

"Our customers, and specifically those in London and other major cities, are looking to us to offer them the best possible range of interesting craft beers – and we think that, with nuturing, London Fields Brewery has huge potential."

Growing craft brands

Earlier this year, Momen highlighted the Danish brewer’s desire to buy a local craft brewery​ in the UK to complement its growing portfolio of craft brands.

He said: “What we know is that international craft is absolutely what you need to have, we also know that we need to have a local craft brand.

“Local craft in the UK is actually growing faster than international craft and it doesn’t exist in our portfolio right now.”

Last March, London Fields Brewery, founded in 2011, was put up for sale for £1m.

London Fields will continue to operate as an independent business, with Brooklyn Brewery working with its team to develop its existing beer range.

Plans to move the operation from a contract brewery outside Hackney to its original home under the railway arches in the borough have also been discussed, with investment set aside to do so.

Further into craft

The buyout could signal the start of Carlsberg’s plans to delve further into the craft segment as other mainstream brewers have done in recent months.

Momen told MA ​Carlsberg UK was in the “early days” of craft and admitted there were plans to grow its portfolio of craft beers with the right products in the future.

Its recent acquisition of the rights to sells Brooklyn Lager in the UK had helped the company to talk about is craft portfolio to customers.

He added: “That gives us some credentials in the craft space, it’s allowed us to talk about some of the other craft brands we’ve had for a while, but haven’t been able to push.”