At the General Assembly of VLB Berlin on 9 October 2023 in Berlin, Horst Müller was bidden farewell from the Administrative Board after 16 years of membership. For his special commitment as representative of the Anadolu EFES Group at the VLB, the Administrative Board honoured him with the award of the VLB golden badge of honor.
Horst Müller looks back on five decades of experience in the international brewing industry. As Diploma Brewmaster (Weihenstephan), he began his career in 1967 at the Haake-Beck brewery in Bremen. After the merger with Beck & Co, he was responsible for the entire brewing operations and numerous investment projects. In 1993, he left Beck & Co and joined the EFES Beer Group in Turkey. There, as Chief Technical Officer, he was largely responsible for the expansion of the beverage group in Russia and the CIS states.
It was in this context that his contact with the VLB came about: due to the need for sound training in brewing technology in the numerous new EFES breweries, the VLB developed a brewing course in Russian on Horst Müller's initiative. This was held for the first time in 2004 and formed the basis for the subsequent successful expansion of the VLB network into the CIS states in the 2000s.
Another milestone for the international expansion of the VLB was the membership of the EFES Beer Group in 2006. Subsequently, Horst Müller was elected to the VLB Administrative Board at the 2007 General Meeting. In the following years, this membership developed into a close relationship on different levels (including analytics, consulting, training), which is still lived today. Müller himself continued his active involvement in the Administrative Board as an official advisor to the EFES Beer Group until 2023.
At the VLB General Assembly on 9 October 2023 in Berlin, he finally resigned from this body and was bidden farewell. VLB President Ulrich Rust read a personal greeting from Can Cakan, President of the Beer Group and CEO Anadolu EFES. He praised Horst Müller's extraordinary commitment to the Anadolu EFES Group and the important bridge to the VLB, which had contributed to the success of EFES. Ulrich Rust also found personal words: "I must confess that this is a very special moment for me, too. Because as a Bremen native, I naturally had my first experience in the brewing industry at Beck & Co. And who was the head brewmaster there at the time? Horst Müller, of course," says Rust. "And today, almost 40 years later, I'm standing here and awarding you the VLB golden badge of honor as VLB President. That is a very special event for me, too."
Horst Müller was visibly moved when he accepted the honour: "Of course it is difficult for me to give up this honorary office after such a long time. Together with the Administrative Board, we have gone through some ups and downs in the past 16 years, mastered many situations and successfully developed the VLB. I wish you all the best for the future - and should you need my advice again, you know how to contact me!"
With the introduction of the VLB golden badge of honor in 2014, the VLB resumed the tradition of the VLB Coin of Honour (until approx. 1928) and the Max Delbrück Memorial Coin (1928-1974). The pin is awarded by decision of the Administrative Council for special honorary commitment to the VLB.
The following have been honoured so far
- Dr. Axel Th. Simon (2014)
- Prof. Dr. Gerolf Annemüller (2015)
- Dipl.-Ing. Wolfgang Kunze (2015)
- Dr. sc. Techn. Hans-J. Manger (2015)
- Prof. Dr. Reinhold Schildbach (2015)
- Dr. Wilfried Rinke (2017)
- Isara Khaola-iead (2017)
- Prof. Dr. Ulf Stahl (2017)
- Gerhard Theis (2021)
- Horst Müller (2023)
Horst Müller and Ulrich Rust at the VLB General Assembly on 9 October 2023 in Berlin
Farewell to Horst Müller and Ulrich Brendel from the Administrative Board at the VLB General Assembly on 9 October 2023 in Berlin