Some Facts About the History of AS Viru Joogid

The history of the factories in Jõhvi starts with beer production. The year for the establishment of the Jõhvi breweries is not known for sure, but it was definitely terminated in 1926. The production premises were taken over by another beer producer – Saku Breweries.

Lemonade production was first launched by the warehouse keeper of the very same brewery, making the most of favourable conditions and starting his personal lemonade factory inside good production premises.

After the Great Patriotic War nothing but half-cellars, used as a slaughterhouse, were left of the factory building. Soon the butchers had to surrender the premises to the newly established Jõhvi Beer and Soft Drink Bottling Industry. As the company was not profitable, it was merged with Tartu Brewery in April 1948.

The current premises at Veski Street were transferred to the representatives of Tartu Brewery in March 1954. These fine and well-built factory premises also housed Jõhvi Starch factory in 1929-1952. Production equipment was only moved to the new building in 1956 and immediately after that the decision to liquidate the Jõhvi and Rakvere Departments of the Tartu Brewery and establish the Jõhvi Beer and Soft Drink Factory was taken. This factory was also liquidated quite soon, and in June 1964 the production premises at Veski Street were handed over to the Tallinn Soft Drinks Factory.

One can’t say that the establishment of a new department in Jõhvi was beneficial for the Tallinn Soft Drinks Factory from the very beginning. In 1966, the launching of bottled wine and the fitting of a new soft drink bottling line was seen as a method of escape from a complicated situation.

In 1974, substantial reconstruction works were started at the Jõhvi factories. In the 1970s the name was changed again to match economic policies: the Tallinn Soft Drinks Factory became into the Estonian Experimental Soft Drinks Factory.

In July 1995, an independent limited company – AS Viru Joogid – was established at the location of the Jõhvi factory; AS Tallinna Karastusjoogid (formerly known as the Estonian Experimental Soft Drinks Factory) holds all of the company shares.

In 1997, reconstruction of the Jõhvi factory buildings was restarted. The laboratory, wine production premises, staff premises and administrative building now comply with all modern requirements; the bottling facilities have been reconstructed. The factory’s production was diversified. The product range included lemonades, small beer (kvass), syrups, long drinks, mineral and table waters, wines and vodka.

Nowadays, the factory has stopped the production of mineral and table water and vodka. All the other products mentioned above are still in production, and fruit and berry drinks not charged with carbon dioxide have been added to the product range. All the trademarks used to mark the factory’s output form a part of the intellectual property owned by the parent company, AS Tallinna Karastusjoogid.