Frequently
asked questions

We were established in 1719, so we have been brewing beer for over 300 years.

We brew over 300 kinds of beer, plus an increasingly broad range of non-alcoholic beer and other drinks.

Royal Swinkels has five divisions: Swinkels Family Brewers, Holland Malt, Habesha, Cuba and Swinkels Real Estate. 

We are an independent family business that is still owned by the descendants of the original Swinkels brewing family.

We bring our beers to the consumer through our partners, on-trade establishments and retailers throughout the world.

Yes: we own two malt houses. This allows us to carefully control the quality of all the malt these malt houses produce.

Yes: we sell the malt that we do not need for making our own beers to other breweries around the world.

Our two malt houses and nine breweries together produce around 405,000 tons of malt and 7.7 million hectoliters of beer each year.

We certainly are: in fact, we are constantly searching for new opportunities to create beers and other drinks that consumers will love. 

Our long-standing expertise and craftsmanship are supported by advanced technologies that are enabling us to work smarter and more sustainably. 

Our commitment to a long-term outlook inspires us in everything we do: our goal is to pass on a smarter, healthier and more sustainable business to future generations.

Royal Swinkels wants to make a valuable contribution to society. That is why we are happy to contribute to sponsorship projects that reflect that we are a community based, socially engaged, leading and innovative family business. Unfortunately, we receive so many requests, by phone, in writing and through our own colleagues, that we cannot grant all of them. We have therefore developed a sponsorship policy, which offers several guidelines that a sponsorship request must meet. 

Our breweries are Bavaria, De Hoorn, Palm, Rodenbach, De Koningshoeven, De Molen, Uiltje Brewing Company, Habesha, and Cervecería Cubana. Most of these are under our ownership, and we operate in the others using a joint venture or partnership agreement.

In addition to our own distribution channel, we also use Bier&cO to export our beer and other drinks throughout the world.

Yes – we own Holland Malt, which has two malt houses based in Lieshout and Eemshaven. These produce the high-quality malts used as the basis of many global beers.

We take our environmental responsibilities very seriously, and are continuously taking steps to enhance sustainability. For instance, Holland Malt will establish the world’s first emissions-free malt house in 2024.

You can order them via the platform Dare to Drink Different, which brings together different beers, brands and tastes for consumers to enjoy.

You are welcome to order all the brands you need via our reliable horeca platforms.

Yes – our portfolio of over 300 drinks contains many high-quality brands that have been produced using innovative and authentic methods.

Royal Swinkels has committed to the Science Based Targets initiative and this means that our aim is to have net-zero operations by 2050. All the electricity that we buy is green. We are making our business processes more sustainable and choosing greener transport options.

The Swinkels Circularity Index is a calculation method we use to determine how circular our business operations are. This method has three core processes as control mechanisms: circular procurement, circular manufacturing and high-value reuse. Ultimately, the goal is to do business completely circularly.

Royal Swinkels aims for all packaging to be 100% recyclable and composed entirely of recycled or sustainably certified material. The first objective has been achieved: all our packaging is fully recyclable. For the second objective, we are well on our way. More than half of the plastic we use is recycled material, and our bottles consist of 75% recycled glass. By packaging our products differently and for example making our packaging thinner, we will need fewer raw materials.

Great to hear you are interested in working at Royal Swinkels! We aim to give you feedback within two weeks. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a little longer than hoped for. If you still haven't received a response after two weeks, please contact the recruiter in charge of your specific vacancy.

Craftsmanship, a sense of fun and passion for great beer are key at Royal Swinkels. You will find yourself working with a team of enthusiastic colleagues who support each other. Together, we all contribute towards passing on a more flourishing business to future generations. In our dynamic and ever-changing industry, we are a close-knit family business with an informal, no-nonsense culture. Short lines of communication are the norm for us. At Royal Swinkels, the door is always open. So come and join our team of enterprising, down-to-earth people who enjoy having fun while working hard in the pursuit of sustainable growth.

The minimum age to work with us is 18. This is because we have to comply with laws and regulations concerning dangerous substances, noise standards and working hours. Exceptions may be made for internships or graduation projects.