Trebjesa Brewery - History

History

Brewing industry in Montenegro traces its roots to 1896, when Vuko Krivokapić built Onogošt brewery in Nikšić. The construction of the brewery in the newly established Principality of Montenegro was endorsed and supported by Prince Nicholas.

In 1908, a number of entrepreneurs from Nikšić decided to build another brewery, named Trebjesa. The first beer came out of the brewery in 1911. The factory was burned during the First World War, and converted to a prison by occupying Austria-Hungary. After the war, the reconstruction was slow, and brewery resumed operations in 1931. However, development was once again short lived, as World War II once again brought destruction. After the liberation from the Axis powers, brewery was nationalized, thoroughly reconstructed and expanded from 1946 to 1956, and quickly became one of the most recognizable Montenegrin brands.

The regional crisis during Yugoslav wars in the 1990s did affect the company, but it recovered relatively soon after the region stabilized, as inherent quality and regional brand awareness helped it to rebound quickly.

Majority stake in Trebjesa was acquired by Interbrew in 1997 for DM25 million.

In mid October 2009, private equity fund CVC Capital Partners bought all of Anheuser–Busch InBev's holdings in Central Europe for €2.23 billion. They renamed the operations StarBev. In 2012, StarBev was acquired by Molson Coors. During the entire period in private ownership, the brewery expanded its operations to import and bottling various international brands, in addition to producing its signature Nikšićko brand. The company covers more than 90% of Montenegrin beer market, and is increasingly successful in regional market.