Warsteiner cuts about 125 jobs at its main brewery in Warstein

Warsteiner Braugruppe said on Tuesday, November 10, that it had completed negotiations with employee representatives to cut about 125 jobs at its main brewery site in Warstein, deepening a restructuring that is reducing the group’s manufacturing footprint in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The company said the agreement will allow it to reduce the workforce at its headquarters in Warstein, in the Sauerland region, to 600 employees by the end of 2026. Chief executive Bodo-Joachim Wendenburg said the outcome of the talks was an important condition for the company’s future.

According to the company, about one-third of the positions to be eliminated in Warstein are expected to disappear through retirements and the expiration of temporary contracts. It said that if those steps do not produce the required number of reductions, the parties have also agreed on a reconciliation of interests and a social plan, a standard mechanism in Germany for handling job losses and support measures.

The cuts in Warstein are part of a wider overhaul of the brewer’s operations in the state. In the second half of 2026, the group already closed its brewery in Herford, affecting about 100 employees. In May, the company also announced its separation from the brewery in Paderborn, which employs more than 100 people. Warsteiner said its goal in Paderborn remains a sale. If no buyer is found by the end of 2026, operations there will also be shut down and the related jobs will be lost.

Taken together, the measures in Warstein and Herford, along with the unresolved future of Paderborn, affect more than 330 employees, according to the ntv/dpa report. The report said the brewer is concentrating its beer production in North Rhine-Westphalia at Warstein. Production of the Herforder and Paderborner beer brands is being moved to the Warstein site, a step intended to make fuller use of the facilities there.

The restructuring also shows the pressure facing German brewers as they try to match production capacity with softer demand. For the beverage sector, the move is another sign that established beer makers may respond to weaker volumes by consolidating output, closing plants and reducing headcount, especially where several breweries operate within the same regional network.

Warsteiner, which operates under the name Haus Cramer Gruppe after the founding family, has long been one of Germany’s best-known beer producers. The latest changes mark a significant shift for a company that is pulling production back to its home base while trying to preserve its long-term operating position.