OREANDA-NEWS. May 04, 2009. The listed Estonian beverages maker Saku Olletehas plans to invest 70 million kroons (EUR 4.5 mln) in brewing equipment and technologies this year.

The company believes the investment to be the biggest placement of funds in the domestic food industry in 2009.

Saku Olletehas said at a news conference that the 70 million kroons covers investments to be made during the summer in technology, products and packaging.

The brewer launched the production of high-quality crystal-filtered beer in a new type of bottle.

Head brewer Enn Karblane said the company is reducing the impact of thermal processing and the filtered beer produced under the new technology has a longer life and tastes like fresh draught beer. The recipes of Saku beers will not change, he added.

Saku believes the new filter to be the first of this type in Estonia. The same technology is already used for draught beers.

The new type of bottle will be first used for Saku Originaal and gradually for all the others beer bearing the Saku name.

Saku hopes the new technology will bolster its position on the beer market and halt the general contraction of the market. The company expects to sell more than four million liters of filtered beer in new type of bottle this year.

The volume of the Estonian beer market in 2008 was 119 million liters, down by 7 percent from the previous year.

Saku Olletehas estimates its share of the domestic beer market at 44.5 percent in terms of sales turnover and 42.1 percent of market volume.