A delicious blend of beer and juice

How Rauch fought for the traditional Fohrenburg brewery

The construction of the Arlberg railway tunnel from 1880 promised many thirsty workers. Which is why the Gassner family, co-owners of Getzner Textil, founded the Fohrenburger brewery in 1881. They successfully ran the business until the 1990s, but decided in 1993 to sell the brewery.

There were plenty of interested parties, primarily Austria's major brewery groups. Rauch wanted to prevent them from making a move into the Ländle region: supply contracts mean that breweries have a large say in which fruit juices a landlord serves. These major breweries would have brought their own fruit juice to Vorarlberg. Rauch made a very generous offer to the numerous owners of the family, which by now had many branches. But a significant minority rejected this and instead floated Fohrenburg on the stock exchange.

Unnoticed by the public, in spring 1998 Rauch once again competed with Austria's largest brewery group for the majority share in the Bludenzer brewery - and this time won.