JUMBO TURNS UP
NOSE FOR APOLLOS
NEWS ABOUT
AMSTEL
IN GREECE
page5
LOTSTODO
ATICHNUSA
page 8
Heineken International
Magazine
Contents: Page
1986 was a satisfactory year 3
Expansions at Amstel in
Greece 5
Primus Award for better
quality 6
Alfred Heineken Tulip
christened 7
Pedavena brewery generates
its own power 8
Two options
Heineken operates world-wide and has breweries in
many countries. This means that spectacular transport
missions involving enormous tanks, such as Apollos,
are a regular occurrence. Recently the airport near
Luxembourg city was the scene of a novel and unusual
Heineken feat of heavy-lift transport. Four Apollo tanks
- dismantled into parts - were loaded into a Boeing 747
(Jumbojet). The tanks were destined for our brewery
in Congo Brazzaville.
Against the superb scenic backcloth of Western
Peleponnesos the tanks and silos of Athenian Brewery's
Amstel brewery suddenly loom into view, nestling
between the hills. Here, some fifteen kilometres from
Patras, engineers are busy at work bringing the brewery
to its maximum capacity.
INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
Published four times a year by
the Corporate Public Relations
Department of Heineken N. V.
P.O. Box 28,1000 A A Amsterdam.
Tel. 020/702268.
The Amstel brewery in Patras is
regarded by many as Europe's most
modern. And this is certainly reflected
in the impressive array of instruments
in the brewing hall.
Amstel brewery in
Patras working hard
to boost capacity
The brewery in Patras, originally
commissioned by Mr. Koumandalos,
a Greek businessman, was built in
1981 by a German brewing company.
The intention had been that it would
not only produce but also sell the
German brewer's beer. But the Greek
consumer's interest in the brand on
offer was not enough to support a
viable brewing operation.
A couple of years ago the shortage of
production capacity at Amstel was
becoming increasingly critical. Since
Despite the costs of the whole opera
tion, this air-lift still proved by far the
cheapest method of transport.
At Luxembourg airport it took three
hours to stow the 75 tons of parts into
the plane (see photos). But, after
thatjfcvas all systems go: the
new brewery or taking over the Patras
brewery which had meanwhile been
put on the market.
Athenian Brewery plumped for the
second option. Why? Because it
allowed the start-up of brewing very
soon after the acquisition. And also
because it would not entail any
redundancies amongst the brewery
personnel. On the contrary: today,
some eighteen months after the
takeover, personnel numbers have
risen from 270 to 330.
Heineken's transport
employees had to rack their
brains and do a lot of prepara
tory work before the tanks could be
shipped. All the component parts
were shipped on pallets. A drawing
had to be made of each pallet to
enable an accurate calculation of the
plane's load. But after this job had
been done it suddenly turned out that
the palleted batches would not fit
inside the Jumbo. And so all the parts
had to be rearranged on the pallets.
Jumbo, chock-full of the parts for
four Apollo tanks, took off and set
course for Africa.
Because of arrears in technical
work it hadnever been possible
to operate at full capacity in
Patras over the past eighteen months.
But Athenian Brewery technicians,
assisted by staff from Heineken
Technical Services, are now working
hard to achieve that goal: maximum
capacity output this year, which
means brewing more than one mil
lion hectolitres of Amstel per year.
output could scarcely keep pace with
the soaring demand for Amstel beer,
Athenian Brewery started looking for
possibilities to expand. Two options
were studied: building a completely