Saku

Saku

The history of Saku Brewery dates back to 1820, when the Baltic German landowner Count Karl Friedrich von Rehbinder founded a brewery and distillery on his estate in the town of Saku near Tallinn, laying the foundation for Estonia's oldest and most significant brewery. After passing into the ownership of the Baggo family, the brewery was fundamentally modernised in 1876 and developed into a professional operation, before the completion of the railway connection between Saku and Tallinn in 1899 provided a decisive boost for growth and made Saku one of the best-known breweries in the entire Baltic region.

During the period of the Estonian SSR, the brewery operated as a state-owned enterprise, which despite all adverse circumstances retained its importance as the most beloved beer supplier in the Baltic states and was even expanded with a major extension of its facilities in 1976. With the restoration of Estonian independence in 1990, Saku Brewery was privatised and revived as a joint venture, with the Saku Originaal introduced in 1993 as the first Estonian quality beer after independence marking a historic milestone in Estonian brewing history and remaining to this day the best-known and most beloved beer in the country.

Since 20 September 2008, Saku has been wholly owned by the Carlsberg Group and has established an unshakeable market position as Estonia's largest beverage producer, with over 20 different beer varieties and a comprehensive range of ciders, mineral water, long drinks and soft drinks. As the Estonian distribution partner for Carlsberg Group products – including Carlsberg, Tuborg, Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc and Grimbergen – Saku combines Estonian brewing tradition with international expertise and stands today as a living symbol of the resilience, pride and unbroken beer culture of a small but remarkable Northern European nation.