British Specialist to Head Dreher Breweries

Mike James, a British specialist, became the CEO of Dreher Breweries on August 1, taking over the position from former manager Gábor Békefi, who announced in March that he was retiring from the company's leadership.

The new CEO came to head Dreher Breweries from the UK and Ireland business of Asahi Europe & International. His main task is to supervise the largest HUF 100 billion investment in Hungarian beer production so far and to keep the company on its growth path.

Mike James emphasized in the statement issued by Dreher Breweries that the company has come a long way in the field of product development and efficiency improvement in the past seven years. This made it possible for Kőbánya to launch a HUF 100 billion investment that is unique in the Hungarian beer industry in 2024.

Gábor Békefi, the former CEO of Dreher Breweries, announced in March that he will retire from the company after seven years. Under his leadership, premium products came to the fore, efficiency and market share in key segments increased, as well as employer commitment. In the future, Gábor Békefi will support the international strategic construction of Asahi Europe & International as an expert until the summer of next year - they write in the announcement.

Founded in 1854, Dreher Sörgyárak is one of Hungary's leading beer producers, and since 2017, it has been a subsidiary of Asahi, known as Japan's largest beer producer. It takes its share of Hungarian beer consumption with more than 440 million pints of beer, indirectly and directly making the livelihood of more than 8,500 families possible. 86 percent of its suppliers are Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises. The company contributes HUF 34 billion per year to the state budget.

According to publicly available data, Dreher Breweries Ltd. achieved net sales revenue of HUF 87.4 billion in 2023, after HUF 74.1 billion in the previous year. The company's profit after tax last year amounted to HUF 5.7 billion compared to HUF 3 billion in the base period.