Supporting our customers and Czech beer culture

The Czech pub has always played a special role in the history of our country.

A considerable part of the local elite would meet there, but it was also the meeting place for neighbours, colleagues, or even entire village communities.

At Plzeňský Prazdroj, we seek to preserve this phenomenon as well as assist its sustainable development going forward – towards a better beer experience, a cleaner environment, etc.

Whenever we advise a pub or bar keeper on how to optimize their offer, save their business in times of difficulty, or enhance the interior, we in fact help their customers as well. Guess what customers appreciate the most? When we persuade the bar keeper to renovate the bathrooms.

Concept pub – an ideal place for a family visit

The times when the word ‘pub’ was a synonym for a smoky room where men would go to drink beer are long gone. Today’s guests want neatness, elegance, well-cared-for beer, friendly staff, and quality food as well as good non-beer beverages.

For several years, Plzeňský Prazdroj has been successfully developing so-called concept pubs and restaurants. Apart from state-of-the-art dispensing equipment, we offer the owners assistance in designing the entire establishment. This also includes the opportunity to use our registered designs and visuals of our beer brands, such as a goat’s head above the tap.

You don’t have to be afraid to go to a concept pub with your family or business partner. The services we offer their owners help the business, but in many places, they also improve the beer culture.

Concept restaurants use the following name or secondary name:

  • Pilsner Urquell Original Restaurant (Pilsner Urquell)
  • Originál 1869 (Gambrinus)
  • Kozlovna (Velkopopovický Kozel)
  • Srdcovka (Gambrinus)
  • Radegastovna (Radegast)

Tank systems save your stomach, too

850
tank pubs
have been opened in the Czech Republic and almost 90 abroad.

They reduce the carbon footprint (see Reducing the carbon footprint), they improve the taste, they are gentle on the customer’s stomach as well as the bartender’s (or keeper’s) nerves. This is because the beer from a tank is poured more easily and is less saturated with gas. Actually, it only contains the gas that formed during the fermentation and maturation of the beer. No others.

These tank systems are a symbol of how Plzeňský Prazdroj cares about better drinking experiences for customers as well as for the efficient business of restaurant or bar keepers. No other brewery group has come close to the number of tank pubs established by Plzeňský Prazdroj. There are some even beyond the borders of our country. We have installed tank systems in 88 pubs in nine countries. And in the homeland it was 850 at the end of last year. Unpasteurized beer from a tank has become a symbol of the modern pub and is the future of Czech beer culture.

Can you pour a beer with a wonderful crisp taste?

It is said that the brewer brews the beer, but the bartender makes it. A bad bartender may totally ruin a perfect beer. Plzeňský Prazdroj supplies beverages to about 20 thousand restaurants and pubs. Given the premium nature of our products, it is only logical that we are the leaders in providing training to bartenders.

Presently, there are five Plzeňský Prazdroj’s trade brewmasters helping our partners in the On Trade to pour beer properly. In this effort, they are joined by as many as forty externals – experienced bartenders – on an ongoing basis.

Our Draft Beer Workshop is among the most appreciated forms of support offered to our clients. It is completely free for them. The only thing they invest is their time.

Master Bartender

1151
Total number of customers from among pub and restaurant keepers who participated in our training programs in 2017.

If you want people to learn something and then do it really well, you should give the best of them proper recognition. We select the best bartenders every year in the Pilsner Urquell Master Bartender, Gambrinus Master Bartender and Radegast Master Bartender contests.

In addition to supporting our customers in the area of beer gastronomy, we also offer a range of other services through which we try to assist in growing their business. We offer diagnostics of their establishments followed by consultation on the recommended changes.

2017 was a challenging year as new legislation was introduced which has a critical impact on businesses in the On Trade. Therefore, we worked hard to provide legislative and legal support to our customers.

For the third year, we also continued our successful program Volba sládků (Brewers’ Choice). It is intended for selected pubs and restaurants with an excellent standard of beer care, thus motivating the entire segment towards a higher quality of service.

We train retailers, too

1927
Number of stores which in 2017 went through our education project “Give 10 Minutes to Beer”, aimed at improving the attractiveness of beer sections in stores.

Selling beer in a store does not require such skills as pouring it properly. That said, bottle placement, shelf layout, or, in general, arranging the goods in a clear and aesthetic way is a skill on its own. Hygiene and housekeeping are equally important. This is why we offer training to our partners in the retail sector as well.