Warsteiner cuts 125 jobs at Warstein and closes Herford brewery as beer demand falls

Talks on job cuts concluded

The Warsteiner brewing group has concluded negotiations with employee representatives on cutting about 125 jobs at its Warstein site, the company said. The group, which trades under its founding family's name as Haus Cramer Gruppe, plans to shed more than one in three of its staff in its home state of North Rhine-Westfalia this year. Once the cuts are complete, the Warstein headquarters workforce is to fall to 600 employees by the end of 2026. Chief executive Bodo-Joachim Wendenburg described the outcome as a key step for the company's future.

“I am sure that with these negotiations we are creating an important prerequisite for the future of the company.”

About a third of the posts to go in Warstein are expected to disappear through retirements and the expiry of fixed-term contracts. If that route does not deliver enough departures, a reconciliation of interests with a social plan has been agreed as a fallback.

Brewery closures and production shift

The Herford brewery, with an annual capacity of 0.3 million hectolitres, has already closed in the second half of 2026, affecting around 100 employees. The separation from the Paderborn brewery, which has more than 100 staff, was announced in May. The group still seeks a buyer for Paderborn, and if no sale is agreed by the end of 2026, production there will also stop along with the jobs. Taken together, the cuts at Herford and Warstein and the planned Paderborn separation touch more than 330 employees.

Beer brands from Herford and Paderborn are to be moved to Warstein, which will concentrate the group's brewing in North Rhine-Westfalia. Warstein's annual capacity is 6 million hectolitres, while Paderborn's is about 1 million, though the company has not said how fully its sites are used. The group also plans its own dealcoholisation plant at Warstein and will move the Herford bottling line there.

Warstein6

Paderborn1

Herford0.3

Warstein

6 million hectolitres

Paderborn

1 million hectolitres

Herford

0.3 million hectolitres

Data from the article text

Reasons and festival cancellation

The group attributes the cuts in North Rhine-Westfalia to falling beer consumption in Germany. Its three production sites in Bavaria are not affected. Separately, the International Warsteiner Montgolfiade balloon festival planned for 2027 has been cancelled, a decision announced on 10 November 2026. The festival ranks among the largest of its kind in the world. Nadja Gärtner, managing director of the festival, said the cancellation does not mark a break with the event itself.

“It is rather an expression of our entrepreneurial responsibility, setting clear priorities in the current situation.”

The brewery plans to reassess next year how to celebrate its 2028 brewery anniversary jointly.

Union reaction

Employees at Warstein were informed on 10 November in the afternoon. The union NGG called the outcome acceptable. Isabell Mura, deputy regional district chair of NGG, voiced dissatisfaction with the scale of the cuts while saying the result was the best achievable in tough talks.

“I am not satisfied, particularly with this magnitude. But it was the best possible result we could achieve in tough negotiations.”

The company's chief executive called the deal fair and said the reduced workforce of 600 lets the group enter the 2027 financial year with a leaner staff. The company aims to complete the job reductions by the end of 2026.