8
Shuttle service delivers
Heineken beer to Spain
Dreher Pedavena
generates its own power
Good expectations
for exports to Taiwan
Lots to do at latest addition
to Dreher family
At least 200,000 kilometres a year will be covered by the
Heineken lorry pictured above. In principle it will
complete the return trip between Heineken's brewery
in 's-Hertogenbosch (Holland) and Spain 52 times a
year to deliver Heineken beer (in bottles, cans or kegs)
and to bring back empty kegs to Holland.
The Dreher brewery in Pedavena is sited in the foothills
of the Alps. This means that especially in the spring a
lot of water flows down as the snow melts on the moun
tains. As long ago as 1929 the then owner of the brewery
had the idea of using that fast-flowing water to generate
electricity. For almost 60 years now the miniature power
station has been providing the brewery with electricity.
And it has quite a respectable capacity: 1400 KwH.
Back in 1981 the people of Taiwan had their first tast of
Heineken beer. In that year, despite all sorts of import
restrictions, Heineken was given permission to ship one
batch of beer into Taiwan. Six years later the Taiwanese
obviously still know and appreciate Heineken beer.
Crowd-puller
Some twenty kilometres from Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia, lies the Birra
Ichnusa brewery. Dreher has a seventy per cent interest in this brewery.
A large-scale renovation operation has been started up at the Ichnusa brewery,
which has an annual output of300,000 hectolitres. The operation began in
September last year and will last for some two years in all.
There has been substantial building and repair work in recent times. A new
bottling hall has been built and the office section was enlarged. In April a new
keg-filling line was installed, whilst the brewhouse was renovated to bring it
into line with the technological requirements for the production of Heineken
beer.
For the inhabitants of Sardinia beer occupies a prominent place in their list of
favourite drinks. Compared with the rest of Italy, Sardinia's beer consumption
is remarkably high: 45 litres per head. In the remainder of Italy the figure is
around 23 litres. The Cagliari brewery brews Ichnusa beer both for returnable
and one-way bottles and for kegs.
Several delivery addresses will
be served in Spain. "The lorry
will cover the whole country
and pick up empty kegs in various
towns. In total 350 full kegs of
Heineken can be taken down to Spain
each time and 1,000 empty kegs can
be brought back to Holland", says
Mr. F. Beukers, who is responsible for
physical distribution in Spain.
Various Spanish haulage firms are
under contract to handle exports of
Heineken beer to Spain. After travel
ing to Holland with all sorts of
products, such as citrus fruit, they are
assured of a full truckload of
Heineken beer for their return trip.
However, because of the sharp rise in
exports of draught Heineken to Spain
- and the resultant need to return the
empty kegs - the use of a lorry bear
ing the familiar Heineken colours
became an attractive advertising pro
position. The director ofa big Spanish
haulage firm was approached and
asked if one of his lorries could
be used especially to carry Heineken
between Holland and Spain. He was
very enthusiastic about this idea. And
so from the end of June the above
lorry is likely to become a familiar
sight for holidaymakers motoring on
the roads between Spain and Holland.
ast year the power station was ment could be done with an easy
renovated. The building was heart. The old turbines had been
I refurbished inside and out and excellent work-horses. They had in
thethreeoldturbines(neededtogene- fact been in operation ever since
rate electricity) were replaced by two 1929
hyper-modern units. That replace- The water supply for the power sta-
In April this year Heineken again
had the opportunity to supply
beer to Taiwan. Following many
years of hesitation, the Taiwanese
government decided to open up its
domestic market for a number of pro
ducts from Europe and the United
States. One of these products was
beer. And - as ever - Heineken was
quick to seize its chance. Four
months after the new regulations
entered into effect (1st January 1987),
an agreement with the Dutch KLM
airline led to the first 100 cartons of
Heineken beer with the required
labelling being flown by KLM jet to
Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan.
At the press conference held
immediately after touch-down, Mr.
R. Duursema, Heineken's export
manager for the Far East, proudly
proclaimed the arrival of Heineken
beer in Taiwan.
"That was followed by a big flower
show cj*nised by Holland Product
Taiwanese ladies at the trade fair in
Taipei liked the Heineken taste.
Promotions. Their trade fair coincided
really well with our launch at the
beginning of April. Tens of thousands
of Taiwanese visited the trade fair and
the Heineken stand was a real crowd-
puller. What struck me most was
that not only the Taiwanese men but
also the women were enthusiastic
about the taste of Heineken beer",
says regional export manager, Mr.
P. van Westrhenen. Export prospects
are high. Initial public response
reflects the big interest for Heineken
beer. And that interest will grow
further now that an advertising
campaign has been started to make
the Heineken brand better known
amongst the people of Taiwan.
tion flows down through a two-kilo
metre pipeline from a height of eight
hundred metres. After the water has
passed through the power station,
some of it is collected and fed to the
brewery. There it is used in the cool
ing system.
Normally speaking, the brewery
needs less power than the station can
supply. The surplus is sold to the
regional electricity company.
Occasionally, the roles are reversed
and the brewery has to draw from the
public grid.
One of the new turbines
The 2-kilometre pipeline feeds the
water to the turbines
Installation of the new keg-filling line.
