By rail
pushing forward, but at the same time we knew that there is a
limit to what can be achieved."
The brewery's initial capacity amounted to 400,000 hectolitres, but
that was soon expanded to 1.4 million in 2000 and to 2.5 million
in 2001. In 2002 the brewery expects to sell some 4 million
hectolitres of beer and this rapid capacity expansion has entailed
substantial investments in terms of effort and energy by the
people involved. "It was a challenge for us to maintain the quality
of the beer despite the enormous growth in capacity," says
Production Logistics Director Nikita Shumilin.
Of this year's forecast sales volume of 4 million hectolitres, around
half is destined for St. Petersburg. Each morning there is a very
busy scene on the brewery site, with dozens of small trucks being
loaded up before setting off on their rounds through the city.
They make deliveries to the supermarkets and the on-premise
outlets such as restaurants, hotels, bars and discotheques.
The owners of kiosks often drive to the brewery themselves to
buy their beer. "They think that buying directly from the brewery
is cheaper than having us deliver the beer to them. But that is not
the case," explains Eugeny Konyahin (30), head of the logistics
department. Mr Konyahin himself started as a sales rep six years
ago and then made the change to logistics.
The remainder of the beer output is sent to some ten other big
cities in Russia, with Moscow as the principal 'export' market.
Eighty big trucks are available to Bravo International to transport
the daily flow of Botchkarov and other brands to the Russian
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