Birra Korça is a brewing company, founded in

Korçë Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the eighth most populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population is 75,994 (2011 census), in a total area of . It stands on a plateau some ...

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

, in 1928. The company is a subsidiary of IHB group since 2004. It is the third largest

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

producer in Albania.

History

Birra Korça is the first beer brewed in Albania. The brewery was established in the town of Korçë, Albania, in 1928. It was founded by an Italian investor Umberto Umberti and Selim Mboria a local investor. The initial capital for the company was 950,000 francs. The initial production capacity was 20,000 Hl per year. It produced Blonde Ale Beer, Dark ale, bottled water “Kristal” and ice. After the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and with the establishment of the communist regime in Albania on January 11, 1946, the brewery became property of the Albanian State, according to the laws of the time. Several reconstructions and renovations were done in the years 1955, 1957 and 1965 and the production was gradually increased. In April 1994 following the change in the political climate, as well as economic downturn, political and social unrest, followed by the liberalization of the market, in Albania the brewery was sold in auction and was bought by a group of businessmen. In 2004 the brewery was bought by the businessman Irfan Hysenbelliu the president of “Birra Korça LLC”. Soon after this a 15 million

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

(€) investment was made to renovate and renew the factory. Since then the brewery has undergone a deep technological and architectural reconstruction. The traditional design has been preserved by adding new elements of the same style. Using the latest Czech and Italian technology it brews 120,000 hectoliters of beer annually, ten times the output of the old brewery. The water comes from natural springs of Morava Mountain. Birra Korca holds an annual beerfest during the month of August which is the biggest in the region.

Brands

Beers under the Korça brand include: Blonde Ale, European type pilsner 4.8-5% abv and Dark Ale a 5-5.2% abv Euro dark lager ( dunkel). Birra Korça is sold in bottles 0.5 lit and 0.33 lit also in kegs 30 lit and 50 lit.

Awards

“Birra Korça” holds several quality awards. First award was taken in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

in the year 1928. In 2007 in London, the company received the International Quality Crown Award in Golden category from

Business Initiative Directions Business Initiative Directions (BID) is a Madrid-based organisation selling what the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) have called "meaningless international awards", more widely kno ...

(BID), a

vanity award A vanity award is an award in which the recipient purchases the award and/or marketing services to give the false appearance of a legitimate honor. Pitches for ''Who's Who''-type publications (see vanity press), biographies or nominations for award ...

. Birra Korça is a holder of ISO 22000 certificate which is an international standard intended to be used by organizations within the food chain. It contains traditional quality assurance preventive measures plus preventive food-safety measures.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birra Korca Korca Albanian brands 1928 establishments in Albania Drink companies of Albania Food and drink companies established in 1928