7
HEINEKEN MADE
MORE PROFIT!
THE SPORT OF HURLING
In the first six months of 1984 Heineken N.V. made a net
profit of more than 101 million guilders. That's some 15%
more than in the same period of 1983. Prospects for the
second half of 1984 are good. The same profit increase is
expected as in the first six months. But this does not mean
that things are going equally well for Heineken everywhere.
There are countries where excise duties on beer have been
increased substantially or where we are being faced by very
heavy competition. But in other areas we certainly can't
grumble. And it is those other areas which have helped us
achieve a splendid result.
Hurling is a field game which is played 15-a-side. Its name
is derived from the 'hurl' (a big, broad stick a little like a
hockey stick). This hurl or hurley stick is used to hit a hard
ball (also known as the 'slitter') about the same size as a
tennis ball. The aim is to score points. If the ball goes under
the cross-bar, that counts as a goal; you can also score by
getting the ball over the cross-bar between the uprights, but
that gives you fewer points than a goal. You're not allowed
to strike your opponent with the hurl but, if he's running at
you full-speed, you can try to body-check him with your
shoulders. Hurling is probably one of the world's fastest
games. And one of the most physical. As can be seen from
the fact that for each match one referee plus 6 assistant
referees are needed. Hurling is Ireland's national game.
How pleased our grandmothers were when they could replace
the old copper pots and pans from their kitchens by enamelled
ones! Today, thoughtheir grandchildren have to pay a mint for
them, if they can find a place that still sells them at all. And,
even today, we're still often faced with a dilemma: should we
throw a thing away or should we hang on to it? The same applies
in companies as well. Is a steam engine that is no longer used
simply scrap iron or a worthwhile museum item? Is a wooden
beer crate just something to stoke your fire with, or is it a
valuable requisite from the history of the brewery?
We went over to Ireland for a talk with Mr. G.J. van Soest,
director of our Murphy's Brewery in Cork, a business that is
rapidly being modernised. Almost every day a choice has to be
made there between keeping something or throwing it away.
How does he solve that problem? A problem we all have to deal
with. In our homes as well.
Is it worth money?
The businessman
'W
One of the nicest
HE1NEKEMS
q BIER
Old things. Throw them away?
G.J. van Soestdirector of Murphy's Brewery in Cork, appreciates antiques.
admits to us a little later. "Just take a look
round my office. It's furnished
completely in the old-fashioned way. It
needed doing up when I arrived here. I
could have had some of that modern steel
and cane furniture put in. But I didn't.
The parquet floor was sanded and
polished, the castors under the table
were replaced by wood, I had indirect
lighting fitted and I had the whole room
A 1930s blotting pad advertising
Heineken. It shows the name and
address of an agent in Holland.
A businessman, as we already said, but
one who's not willing to see old things
simply vanishHe'd rather turn them into
cash or surround himself with them!
"Certainly", was his immediate reply,
"but I offer those for sale to the
Corporate Public Relations
Department. They've been busy for
years collecting items for a concern
museum."
As boss, you're not allowed to get rid of
them anyway, because they're a business
asset and the most you can do is sell them
if you don't intend to keep them."
Calmly but precisely, Van Soest gives us
some examples. He points out that you
sometimes have to weigh the costs of
demolishing a building against the costs
of putting up a new oneHe explains that
it would cost a fortune to have the
malt house of his brewery demolished, as
its walls are as thick as those of a
mediaeval castle. But its rooms are so
low that hardly anyone can stand upright
in them. In that case it's better to leave
the shell of the old building standing, to
break out the six floors and make four of
them. That's much cheaper, too.
We had to smile at the idea of Van Soest
to-earth. People also say that they're
hard-headed businessmen. G.J. van
Soest is undoubtedly both. That was
clear from his answer when we asked him
what he does with all those old-fashioned
things.
"First of allyou ask yourself whether the
item has any value for the business or for
the brand that you sell. Murphy's is an
old brewery, one that's always stood on its
present site. The people of Cork are
attached to it. That's why we're
modernising right here, on this site. And
that's why we're also carefully keeping
the old pictures, documents, furniture
and other old items which are linked to
Murphy's in some way or another", and
as he speaks, he points to the many
beautiful antique items in his office.
"If a thing is of no value to the business,
you have to ask yourself whether it is
worth any money. Lots of old things
sometimes fetch a high price. Obviously
you don't throw them away in such cases
cleaned out. Oh yes, and I sent the
curtains to the dry cleaners when I heard
how much new ones would have cost.
And yet this office did not cost me a lot,
and I still think it's one of the nicest
offices in the concern."
We simply had to agree with him.
Our final question was whether it never
occurred that he has things on his hands
that couldn't really be sold as scrap, for
instance like a couple of brewing kettles
when a brewhouse had to be demolished
All those old kettles are equally beautiful
and can have just the same sentimental
value to the business as well.
A silver mug which a number of our
agents presented to G. A. Heineken,
founder of the brewery, as a jubilee gift at
the end of the last century.
A painting of the drayhorse 'Trui' which
worked from 1920 to 1929 at
'De Sleutel' Brewery in
Dordrecht (Holland),
a business that
formed part of
the Heineken
group.
having that splendid granite malthouse
razed to the ground. He had been talking
to us for a while and we couldn't help but
notice his love for all things old.
"That's true, I take a great personal
interest in everything that's old", he
Geert Jan van Soest is a Dutchman. And
they have a reputation for being down-
it S