Will the brewery emerge from the crisis??

The image is more than tarnished. "I won’t go there anymore. There are a lot of things wrong", even many people from neudrossenfeld, who are not happy with brauwerck AG, which operates the guesthouse and brewery opened in 2013 on the holzel site, which has been renovated to the tune of more than eight million euros, are saying the following. Limited opening hours, service that needs improvement, no acceptable price-performance ratio – the points of criticism are many, but most agree: it would be a pity if the brauwerck, which has an appealing restaurant with a hall and a wonderful beer garden with a view of the rotmain valley, no longer existed.

The worry is raw

The worry about the future is rough with many shareholders, because the AG does not get out of the skewed situation. There have always been new ideas, but no board of management has yet put the stock corporation on the road to success. Neither the late rainer schimpf, nor michael kaim, nor dieter bauernfeind, who heads the stock corporation today and under whom the annual deficit could at least be reduced: hundreds of thousands of losses have been made to date, and those responsible and with them the shareholders can only dream of a black zero.

The original share capital of 850000 has approximately halved by the year 2019. "It’s heading for insolvency", in an interview with our newspaper, an industry expert says that as the years go by, maintenance and new investment costs will be incurred that will further burden the balance sheet. "Such an enterprise must throw off straight in the first years a profit", he states.

Shareholders have resigned

Why shareholders don’t go to the barricades? "I think most people, like me, have simply given up and can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Because the share only cost 250 euros when it was issued, they take the loss", says a shareholder who sees the days of the AG paid for, no longer expects a return on his investment. The conditions for the restaurant business are ideal, especially since no rent has to be paid to the municipality, which owns the property.

"If one is honest, one must say that the company is kept alive under conditions that are not in line with the market. If a lease were to fall due, the balance sheet would be even worse." the shareholder is curious to see how the annual balance sheet for 2020 will turn out, and says with gallows humor: "maybe it was the best year thanks to the corona subsidies."

No jolt message

How those responsible for the brewery want to turn the rudder around? We wanted to ask andrea weigler, project manager from baunach, who is the new, full-time managing director of brauwerck AG. Despite many attempts to contact them, no conversation has taken place. It does not clean itself against the press, was to be heard from around the brauwerck. Weigler, who sits for the CSU in the city and district councils of baunach and was a candidate for mayor in 2014, is said to be an expert in the field.

What experience it has in the catering industry? This question also remained unanswered, which irritates not only us, but also stockholders. "How to get out of the negative headlines, if you do not explain yourself publicly?", asks a shareholder, who is angry about the "stonewalling tactics that have been used for years", has no understanding. How he sees the future of the brewery? "Not rosy. I fear that in the not too distant future the lights go out."

What the board says

Board member dieter bauernfeind, who also withdrew from operations as a result of a serious covid illness, says many shareholders are concerned. "But I wonder why they are only now revolting, when the money is scarce." bauernfeind makes it clear that a lot of money is "wasted", especially in the first five years had been. "The campaigners only watched, no criticism was voiced."

Less is sometimes more

Under his direction the loss was brought down. How the 2020 balance sheet turned out? In a few weeks, it will be presented to the shareholders. "A profit of 6,000 euros was generated for the first time", tells bauernfeind, but female, that the pandemic has helped the brauwerck.

There were state corona grants for the time of the schliebung, in which no expenses were incurred. Bauernfeind makes it clear that it sounds paradoxical, but in the past it would often have been better to restrict opening times: "because in bad months we took in little, but paid high wage costs." how to open the brewery must be carefully considered.

No response

Pricing, service, opening hours – like many shareholders, the management board sees a number of areas that need to be tackled. The main goal must be to finally find a tenant for the gastronomy. "It was a big mistake to try from the beginning without a tenant", says bauernfeind and emphasizes that he was given a lessee free space "so that he is able to act". "I myself have never been attached to my board position. I am attached to the brewery, he states. Whether andrea weigler also pushes the search for an innkeeper? A question to which we have unfortunately not received an answer.