Currently, after the launch of CELIA DARK, the brewery brews a total of 11 varieties and brands of beer. The best-selling product was the same as in previous years, Žatec Premium beer, an eleven degree light lager that accounts for over 60% of production. The share of special beers of total production was 2.5% of volume in 2013. The rest consists of draft beer and a twelve-degree lager. 86% of beer is produced for the domestic market, and exports accounted for 14% of total sales. The beer is exported to 17 countries on 4 continents.
"Over the last four years, Žatec brewery’s production has grown by nearly 14%, which we consider to be a good result at a time when the domestic beer market has been rather stagnant. Our growth is mainly the result of the fact that we have been investing into new technologies on a long-term basis and we also pay considerable attention to the quality of the beer, as well as of the ingredients from which we brew our beers," said Martin Kec, an Executive of Žatecký pivovar spol. s r. o. "The growth of interest in our beers is also due to their broad portfolio, through which we meet the evolving requirements of customers," added Martin Kec.
The latest new beer product offered by the Žatec brewery is the dark beer for celiacs called CELIA DARK. It is a dark, original special lager brewed from Žatec water, Czech barley, Bavarian, color and caramel malt and Žatec hops. It complements the very successful CELIA beer, which has been on the market since 2010 and has quickly gained popularity on both the domestic as well as foreign markets.
The cornerstone of the current brewery was laid on June 20, 1798, on the site of the former royal castle, next to the barracks. Already in 1801 the inhabitants of Žatec brewed 840 kegs (42,000 l) of beer. The brewery’s modern history began with the arrival of a new owner, British businessman Rolf Munding. He began the process of investing into production facilities, as well as into the newly developing business policy of the company žatecký pivovar spol. s r. o.