Royal Swinkels to relocate Palm Brewery’s bottling operations to the Netherlands

In a beer market under pressure, the Royal Swinkels brewing group aims to utilize its available production capacity more efficiently. That is why the bottling and keg filling lines at the Palm brewery in Steenhuffel are being relocated to the Netherlands.

Creating room for investments

Palm NV announced today to the works council its intention to gradually transfer the bottling and keg filling operations in Steenhuffel to existing filling lines within the group. Brewing operations will remain unchanged. The canning line, the distribution center, the commercial activities of Swinkels Belgium, and operations at Rodenbach in Roeselare will also remain unchanged. Royal Swinkels, which also owns beer brands such as Bavaria, Cornet, and La Trappe, reported this in a press release.

According to the company, Royal Swinkels aims to utilize the available production capacity within the group more efficiently and create room for future investments in Belgian brands and growth segments. Several bottling lines are nearing the end of their economic lifespans. The decision could result in the collective layoff of 33 employees out of a total of 147. On Wednesday, the company initiated the statutory information and consultation procedure with employee representatives regarding this matter.