Carlsberg Group

The Carlsberg Group (/ˈkɑːrlzbərɡ/; Danish: [kʰɑːˀlsb̥æɐ̯ˀ]) is a Danish brewing company founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen. The company's first headquarters were located in Copenhagen, Denmark. Since Jacobsen's death in 1887, the majority owner of the company has been the Carlsberg Foundation. The company's flagship brand is Carlsberg Beer (named after Jacobsen's son Carl) but it also brews Tuborg, Kronenbourg, Somersby cider, Russia's best selling beer Baltika, Belgian Grimbergen abbey beers, and more than 500 local beers.

After merging with the brewery assets of Norwegian conglomerate Orkla ASA in January 2001, Carlsberg became the fifth largest brewery group in the world. It is the leading beer seller in Russia with about a 40 percent share of the market. In 2009 Carlsberg ranked fourth worldwide, and employed around 45,000 people.

History

Carlsberg was founded by J. C. Jacobsen, a philanthropist and avid art collector. With his fortune he amassed an impressive art collection which is now housed in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in central Copenhagen. The first brew was finished on 10 November 1847, and the export of Carlsberg beer began in 1868 with the export of one barrel to Edinburgh, Scotland. Some of the company's original logos include an elephant, after which some of its lagers are named, and the swastika whose use was discontinued in the 1930s because of its association with political parties in neighboring Germany.