‚Füchschen‘ has been brewing top-fermented dark beer (‘Altbier’) since 1848, and five years ago they added Pilsner. The brewery was named in a time when houses didn’t have street numbers yet. The house had a painting of a fox on one of its outside walls and therefore people used to say “let’s go to the fox” or “to the little fox” to have a drink – and it became a beautiful tradition. In 2007 the Altbier brewery Füchschen in Düsseldorf started their collaboration with Envases. At this point the 5-liter party keg was launched, which turned out to be a true success story. 5-liter kegs as advertising vehicle: the Füchschen Brewery relies on creativity!
5-liter kegs as advertising vehicle: the brewery’s campaigns are both bold and striking!
Altbier, which originates from Münster in Westphalia, is a top-fermented dark beer. It belongs to Düsseldorf like Kölsch belongs to Köln. Meanwhile the Füchschen Brewery is operated by the fourth generation of the Peter König family. The Brewery describes its ‘Alt’ as a relatively simple beer, brewed with aroma hop only from the Hallertau. The roasted malt and the malt Cara Light are responsible for the dark color. The beer is not too strong in terms of alcohol content and original gravity, which makes it very easy to drink – and to have more than just one. But it is not only the quality of the beer that makes Füchschen that successful, it is also thanks to its extraordinary advertising campaigns. Among other vehicles the mini kegs work perfectly to display those.
The little fox as advertising icon
In fairy tales or myths, the fox has always been illustrated as a very smart, cunning and mischievous animal that can appear a little wily sometimes. The Füchschen Brewery uses this association and relies on puns and the versatility of the fox. He shows up in the most various costumes: as clairvoyant, police officer, sexy dancer, soccer fan, Carnival enthusiast or even as the Queen. Furthermore, they use puns intentionally to refer back to current events, which makes the campaigns very unique. Actually, they have become huge hits among their fans.
The topics are being changed two to three times a year. “Extremely popular campaigns, like last year’s Christmas campaign, are being re-launched for the third time by now. But other than that, there are always new motifs for the campaigns”, explains Tobias Heller, Commercial Director of the brewery, in our interview. The attention they create and the creativity of the advertising in general, can be displayed perfectly on the mini kegs from Envases. There is no other type of packaging that offers that much advertising space. Therefore, people love to buy the party kegs of the Füchschen Brewery. They even become more and more of a collector’s item.
5-liter kegs as advertising vehicles: Envases has been trusted partner from the very beginning!
Jochen Weber hands over the 500.000st 5-liter keg to Peter König, the owner of the Füchschen Brewery
„When we launched the party kegs in 2007, we were the first house brewery to use those in our entire sales area”, explains Heller. Due to that circumstance, we were able to increase sales for our mini kegs every single year. Last year we sold 33.000 units, which makes for 4% of our total beer sales. Some of our competitors, however, realized the market potential for kegs and followed our example.“ The brewery that sells roughly 41.000 hectoliters of beer per year and delivers to Düsseldorf and surroundings, is quite proud of its success. From the very beginning they have worked with Envases and there is no reason to change that for the upcoming years. „We are nothing but happy with our partnership”, praises Heller. „In particular we value the flexibility of our partner. For instance, Envases realizes special orders for us that don’t fulfill the minimum amount for purchases without hesitation. Furthermore, we appreciate the tap system Envases invented and the communication on eye-level.”
5-liter kegs excite people – even in times of COVID!
Despite continuous excitement about the party keg, sales are forecasted to decrease slightly for 2020 compared to the year before. But this is only due to the lockdown. Other than that, we will probably see an increase in sales. Because right after the regulations were lifted, sales numbers went up particularly for 5-liter kegs. „As soon as people were allowed again to gather in small groups, our mini kegs turned out to be their constant companions”, explains Heller. „People took them to the Rhine to meet up with some friends and enjoy some nice and cold draft beer outside.“ That way the party keg made for the perfect alternative to a visit to the pub.
Conclusion: Mini kegs are not only interesting for the end consumer because they make it possible to enjoy some cold draft beer together with friends and family. Breweries like Füchschen in Düsseldorf rely on the party keg because it allows them to present creative advertising campaigns on a big display and in an impressive way. Therefore, Füchschen is one of the many happy customers of Envases Öhringen GmbH that are thankful for their customer service and flexibility.
