6
UNLOADING MALT IN PEDAYENA
Netherlands
South America
Netherlands
Scotland
In earlier days men with shovels
had to empty the lorries.
That used to take about three
hours.
Never sure
The price
Honesty
Marc Janssens works at the Albert Malting Plant in Ruisbroek(Belgium). He is responsible for
buying in the barley which has to be processed into malt there. 450,000 kilograms per day are
needed to keep our two malting plants in operationThat's equivalent to one year's harvest from
about 1 square kilometre of land. This means that in one year's time he needs the entire barley
harvest from an area of 300 square kilometres. How do you set about buying in such a mind-
boggling quantity as 140 million kilograms? Not such an easy task. Especially as Heineken wants
to have the best quality of brewtng barley and there's not a very great deal of that available in
Europe.
As a rule,the malt needed in our breweries is supplied in
road tankers.Unloading these creates no problems,as a
hose is simply coupled to the back of the tank. As the
tank gets emptier it is tilted higher.
If semi-trailers are used, the loading platform cannot be raised
at the point behind the cab like on ordinary trucks. In Pedavena
(Italy) the system used involves
tilting the entire semi-trailer to
one side. Within the space of a
few minutes the malt then tips
out of the side of the trailer and
on to a grill. From there the
malt is transported through a
tube straight into the silos.
IN BRIEF
One of the warehouses of our
brewery in 's-Hertogenbosch in
Holland was devastated by a big
fire around the start of the new
year. The damage amounts to
some 6 million Irish
Production went on as usual,
however, as the fire was confined
to a workshop and a storage area.
Heineken has acquired a 15%
interest in the South American
brewery group Quilmes. This
group owns six breweries, three
malting plants and a soft drinks
production plant in Argentina,
Paraguay and Uruguay. In 1983
the group sold about 4 million
hectolitres of beer. Heineken
paid around IR. 10 million for
this 15% stake. We will also be
providing the group with
technical assistance.
In one year's time Heineken
Nederland has filled one billion
bottles destined exclusively for
export from Holland. No mean
feat indeed!
Tomatin is a business in Scotland
that specialises in the production
of whisky. A few years ago
Heineken acquired an interest of
around 25% in this firm. Shortly
after that the world whisky
market collapsed. And it's not
expected to pick up in the near
future either. Meanwhile,
Tomatin has found itself in deep
trouble. The Tomatin board has
therefore been forced to put the
firm into voluntary liquidation.
How unfortunate that things
cannot always go so well in
business and that such a fine
company should come out on the
losing end.
"Prices on the grain market are always
fluctuating," Marc told us, "but there's
no other type of grain with such fast-
changing prices as brewing barley. That
means you can earn a lot of money, and
also that you can lose a lot. Especially if
you always want to get the best quality.
Then you're obliged to buy in well in
advance. From merchants and
cooperatives. Never straight from a
farmer, because there are hardly any
farmers who grow such quantities."
Marc Janssens does not look upon
himself as a buyer, because he does not
order from the man offering the best
quality at the lowest price. He's what's
known in his line of work as a 'trader'.
Since he has to do his buying well in
advance to prevent the Albert Malting
Plant from finding itself without barley,
he has to get through a tremendous
amount of work. And he has to have a
very good nose for business. Often he
Purchases have to be checked for quality. Marc Janssens in the laboratory with
barley samples he's bought.
Denmark, Scotland, England,
Holland and occasionally Germany.
There he judges whether it will be a
good barley year or a bad oneWith the
aid of these figures and some other
data, he is able to conclude contracts
for the delivery of so much barley of a
certain quality at a certain price in so
many months' time. But it's the price
that causes the difficulties.
He has to have the price in his headHe
has to be able to negotiate on itHe can
earn a great deal of money on the price
but he can lose out on it as well.
Everything depends on how high the
price is on the market when the barley
that he ordered months ago is actually
delivered.
On this tightrope the slightest mistake
could prove very costly. So Marc tries
to eliminate this risk by knowing all
there is to know about supply and
operate. Sometimes instantly. By
telephoneWithin a few minutes he has
to come to a decision on the price and
the quantity. Once he's said 'yes' he can
never go back on his word.
"In the grain trade there's one golden
rule: a man's word is his bond",
explains Marc Janssens. "Once I've
said a price, I can't ring back two
minutes later to change it, for instance
because I forgot to make allowance for
the transport costs."
A difficult job. But he has it in his
fingertips. That's one of the reasons
why he was elected as the youngest-
ever deputy chairman of the Chamber
of Arbitration in Antwerp. That's the
body which deals with disputes in the
grain trade.
Marc Janssens has one big advantage
where his work is concernedhe simply
radiates honesty.
has to draw up figures showing how
much barley all the malting plants will
need in the coming year and compare
these with the number of acres of land
that have been sowed with brewing
barley. From these figures he can see
whether there will be a shortage or a
surplus of barley. He also has to have
an accurate knowledge of what the
quality will be like. That's why he goes
and visits the barley fields in Ireland,
demand and having business relations
he can trust. If Marc Janssens wants to
do his work properly and to minimise
the risks, he must constantly gather
information about the state of affairs
on the market. Many times a day. He
knows that he can never get all the
figures to enable him to take an
absolutely safe decision. But he has to
buy anyway, long in advance to be sure
that the malting plant can continue to
Looking at Marc Janssens, you don't
get the feeling that he's weighed down
by the worries of all this responsibility.
He's 33 years old and a typical native of
Antwerp, and those are people who
generally have a very good idea of how
to enjoy life. Marc Janssens seems to
excel at that. But there's always a hint
of earnestness showing through in his
character. We're almost sure that he
thinks that life's greatbut that he never
forgets that it does have its serious
aspects. That's a good attitude for the
job that he does, as that job is a difficult
one. Obviously, he also maintains
contact with the buying department of
Heineken Technical Services to
exchange information about barley
and malt prices and about the market
situation.
Marc Janssens, barley buyer for our Albert Malting Plant in Belgium. Behind
him: the map showing barley-growing areas in Europe.
ort tl (ObertiasseD Posttaeh 110 \fossen Inks 9
Tel; (211)