 | |||||||||||||||
 Interactive map of Birra Moretti | |||||||||||||||
| Location | Udine, Italy | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opened | 1859; 167 years ago (1859) | ||||||||||||||
| Owned by | Heineken | ||||||||||||||
| Website | birramoretti | ||||||||||||||
| Active beers | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Birra Moretti (Italian pronunciation:[moˈretti]) is an Italianbrewing company, founded inUdine in 1859 by Luigi Moretti.[1] In 1996, the company was acquired byHeineken N.V. The brewing plant in Udine was sold to the newly formed Birra Castello S.p.A., and the beer is now also brewed in different locations including inManchester, England.[2]
Birra Moretti was founded in 1859 by Luigi Moretti inUdine, which at that time was still part of theAustrian Empire, as the Beer and Ice Factory. The first bottles went on sale in 1860. The company was initially expected to produce 250,000 litres of beer a year, enough to meet the provincial demand.[3]
On the company's official website, it is said that in 1942 theCommendatoreLao Menazzi Moretti saw an elderly mustached gentleman sitting at a table in the historicaltrattoriaBoschetti ofTricesimo in the province ofUdine. Moretti, thinking that the man could represent his beer very well, decided he would ask permission to photograph him in exchange for a reward to the man's liking. "Che al mi dedi di bevi, mi baste" - said the man in theFriulian language, or "Give me to drink, enough for me".[4] That photo was later handed over to the illustrator Segala, alias Franca Segala, who designed the famousmanifesto.[5]
Another version states that the photo was taken by the German photographerErika Groth-Schachtenberger in 1939. The photo portrayed a Tyrolean farmer fromThaur inTirol, a few kilometers fromInnsbruck. Groth would not have authorized the use of her picture if she knew it would be used for the Moretti advertising campaigns in 1956. She saw it in a billboard and this discovery resulted in a legal dispute.[6][7][8]
Over the years, the Moustache was played by various actors. The most familiar face was actor and voice actorMarcello Tusco, replaced after his death byOrso Maria Guerrini.
By the late 1980s Birra Moretti was the third largest brewery in Italy, with ten percent of the market.[9]
The Moretti family owned the brewery and business until 1989, when a 70 percent stake was sold to theLabatt Brewing Company.[9]
The original factory in Udine was closed in 1992 after brewing was transferred toSan Giorgio di Nogaro, also inFriuli.
Interbrew acquired the business with the takeover of Labatt in 1995. Interbrew sold the company toHeineken in 1996.[10]
Following the finding by the ItalianAntitrust Authority that Heineken occupied a dominant position in the Italian market,[11] the company was forced to sell the brewery inSan Giorgio di Nogaro in 1997. It was subsequently bought by a new brewing consortium called theBirra Castello Group, which now owns the property. Production of Birra Moretti beers was then moved to various other plants around Italy controlled by theHeineken group, such as those atAssemini,Comun Nuovo,Massafra, andPollein.
In 2015, Heineken launched six new Birra Moretti products: two newRadler, Birra Moretti Radler Gazzosa, andChinotto as well as six beers dedicated to the culinary traditions of Italian regions: Birra Moretti toFriuli, Birra MorettiSicilian, Beer MorettiPiedmontese, Birra MorettiTuscan, Birra MorettiApulian, and that of Lucana.[12]
In 2024, Heineken launched Sale Di Mare as a new product in the UK market. Sale Di Mare is a medium bodied premium lager with a hint of Italian sea salt at 4.8% ABV.
There are six beers under the Birra Moretti brand.[13]Birra Moretti is the main brand, a 4.6% abvpale lager launched in 1859; followed byLa Rossa, a 7.2% strong dark lager ordoppelbock. Other brands include:
From 1997 to 2008, Birra Moretti sponsored theBirra Moretti Trophy, an invitationalsummer footballtournament. The first three editions were held inUdine, the birthplace of the company. Each edition saw the participation of three teams competing for 45 minutes, like many other friendly summer tournaments. After the first three editions, the tournament moved first to theStadio San Nicola inBari and then to theStadio San Paolo inNaples from 2005 to 2008.
Stadio Moretti was built inUdine as a multi-use stadium. The capacity of the stadium was 25,000 spectators. It also hosted speedway events. The stadium was first used as the home of the Udinese Calcio football matches. The venue, however, moved to the Stadio Friuli in 1976. Stadio Moretti was demolished in 1988 and in its place now stands a city park, which was named after the great football player,Alfredo Foni.
46°04′14″N13°14′08″E / 46.0705468°N 13.2355987°E /46.0705468; 13.2355987
