2010

• Beers from the Plzensky Prazdroj portfolio scored high in last year’s international beer competition Australian International Beer Awards. A silver medal in the Pils type beer category was awarded to both Velkopopovicky Kozel Medium and Velkopopovicky Kozel Premium, and another silver medal went to Velkopopovický Kozel Dark in the dark beers category. Success in their categories was achieved by Gambrinus 11° Excelent and Birell (a silver medal) and Radegast Premium, Gambrinus Premium and Gambrinus Pale (bronze medals).
• In the Pivex Gold Cup – Beer of the year 2010, Gambrinus Pale placed 2^nd in the draft beer category, while Birell won a gold medal among non–alcoholic beers.
• Plzensky Prazdroj amended its Master family of beer specialties when it launched a “15°” Master beer on the market, and all of the three varieties (Master Semi–dark 13°, Master Gold 15° and Master Dark 18°) were launched also in bottles.
• Birell non–alcoholic beer introduced its semi-dark variant. The taste and aroma of Birell Semi 0150dark has been enriched with aromatic substances from caramel malt.
• Pilsner Urquell lager is newly distributed in a returnable half–size crate holding 11 0.50l returnable bottles.  One advantage of this new packaging is its small size and low weight.
• In the 6^th year of the international Pilsner Urquell Master Bartender competition, a Czech representative was the winner for the first time: it was Lukas Svoboda from the Konvikt pub in Prague.
• In May, the first Pilsner Urquell Original Restaurant was opened in Germany. In the Pilsner Urquell Brauereiausschank in Düsseldorf you can even find the first self-service draft beer system in Germany.
• Pilsner Fest 2010 was the most successful event in the history of this festival, breaking three records. To open the festival, 5,331 people raised Gambrinus and Pilsner Urquell beers for a toast, thus breaking the 2003 record of a collective toast by 375 persons. Concerts by 25 top music groups together with the accompanying program attracted over 50 thousand visitors, who consumed more than 153 thousand beers.  
• In August, the Gambrinus brewery opened a Visitors’ route, where visitors have the opportunity to look under the lid of the brewery operation, tap their own beer, learn how to treat beer correctly and how to recognise its quality.  One great attraction of this route is also the unique interactive “Gambrinus Arena“.
• The Gambrinus StamGast (Regulars) program, in which the Gambrinus brand acknowledges the custom of its most loyal publicans and regulars, was attended by almost four thousand visitors last year.  
• In December, the brewery in Nosovice launched the very first beer specialty in its history: Radegast Extra Bitter. Although it is one of the bitterest beers on the Czech market, the bitterness remains very pleasant and is supplemented by a rich malt flavour.
• The Radegast brewery commemorated the 40^th anniversary of the first brew of beer from Nosovice, which was “born” in September 1970. Since then, the brewery has produced over 55 million hectolitres of the fantastic beer.  
• In July, Plzensky Prazdroj granted its 1000^th certificate acknowledging outstanding care of draft beer quality to the Na Pláni pub in Prague. Plzensky Prazdroj launched this complex program, focusing on care of beer quality in restaurants where its brands are served, back in 1999. 
• The Pilsner Urquell and Gambrinus breweries and the Brewery Museum tourist destinations together with the Pilsen Historic Underground, attracted 226, 720 people to Pilsen last year (an increase of 4.5% against 2009). The Velké Popovice brewery welcomed over 19,000 visitors; that is a year–on–year increase of one–third. An important tourist novelty for the brewery in Nosovice, as well as for the entire region was the opening of the new Radegast Visitors´ Centre in September 2010.

       Sustainable development, employer of choice

• The 9^th year of the Prazdroj to the People program distributed the sum of CZK 5.5 mil between non-profit organisations from Pilsen and from the regions of Ostrava, Frydek-Mistek, Trinec and Jablunkov in support of projects that improve the quality of life of people from these regions. The public sent 37, 347 votes, which was 50 % more compared with the previous year. For the third time, people had the opportunity to vote via mobile phone and also to contribute themselves with a donors message (DMS). The sum provided by Plzensky Prazdroj rose by an extra CZK121, 581.
• For a number of years, Plzensky Prazdroj has been recognised as the best employer of the Pilsen region in the Employer of the Year competition. In 2010, it even placed 8^th countrywide.
• In March, Plzensky Prazdroj co-organised the 1^st expert discussion panel in the Czech Republic entitled „Alcohol behind the wheel – jointly to reduce drink–driving“, which was attended by representatives from legislation, the state executive, the brewing industry and NGOs from both the CR and abroad.
• The Promile INFO service, the purpose of which is to inform drivers by means of a text message, WAP or internet about the approximate level of alcohol in their blood, celebrated its fifth anniversary. Over this period of time, it responded to almost 110,000 queries from responsible alcohol consumers, with 1/3 of them using this service repeatedly. Plzensky Prazdroj has, for a long time, been a partner of this service and has helped to a great extent with its promotion among the respective target groups.
• In 2010 Plzeňský Prazdroj has been awarded for its contribution to sustainable development. A prestigious Czech national competition TOP Philanthropist organized by the Business for the Society platform praised the company for a long–term contribution to the CSR development in the Czech Republic, for comprehensive and systematic approach, active engagement in not only social investment but also environmental protection, promoting responsible behaviour among suppliers and acting as a responsible beer producer.  

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