Bavaria

Royal Swinkels is a 100% independently owned family business headquartered in Lieshout, North Brabant, where the Swinkels family has held full ownership across seven generations. The family has been brewing in the Netherlands since 1719. The Bavaria brand name has been in use since 1925, when the fifth generation of the family established a bottom-fermentation plant to produce pale lager in the Bavarian style. In June 2018 the company changed its name from Bavaria to Swinkels Family Brewers, and in March 2019 received the Royal predicate to become Royal Swinkels Family Brewers; the name was further shortened to Royal Swinkels as of 2024.

The group operates nine brewery locations across the Netherlands, Belgium, Ethiopia, Cuba and Georgia, which together produced nearly 7 million hectolitres of beer in 2024. Royal Swinkels is also one of the largest malt producers in Europe, with two malt houses in Lieshout and Eemshaven giving a combined annual capacity of 400,000 tons.

Bavaria sold its first alcohol-free beer in 1978 and has continued to develop the category since. The alcohol-free range is brewed directly without alcohol rather than having it removed after fermentation: Bavaria's researchers developed new yeast strains that ferment and generate flavours without producing alcohol during the brewing process. Several drinks in the range have picked up awards.

The portfolio spans lagers, wheat beers and flavoured malt drinks, suited to sober-curious drinkers across many markets. Bavaria has a broad retail footprint across mainstream channels worldwide.