6
F. van der Minne new general manager at Murphy's
Worn-out Euro-bottle
makes way for stylish newcomer
Dr. H.P. Heineken Prize
for Thomas R. Cech
I I
It was a sad day for Murphy's personnel in Cork and Du
blin when it became known that "their" general manager
G.J. van Soest would be taking his leave of Ireland. But
the announcement that he would be appointed mana
ging director of Heineken Nederland BV. did a lot to res
tore spirits; in fact, this meant an enormous step forward
for Van Soest. But for Murphy's Brewery Ireland his
transfer, coming as it did after five turbulent years and
first-rate cooperation with Van Soest, meant a difficult
leave-taking.
Sales to hotels and bars
Experience
The prize
For the past few weeks the
manager's chair in Cork has
been occupied by Mr. F. van
der Minne. Until a short while ago, he
was regional export manager with
Heineken in Amsterdam. Heineken
International Magazine had a chat
with Mr. Van der Minne just before he
set off for Ireland. He is happy about
his new post in Ireland: "This is again
a new challenge for me. As I see it,
running your 'own' brewery is the best
job there is."
On 1 February 1988 Mr. Van der
Minne will have been with Heineken
for thirteen years. He started out as a
representative for special projects and
stood in for colleagues who were off
sickThat was followed by a year in the
desk service sales department in one
of the hotels and bars catering regions
in Holland. "In my first years with
Heineken I learnt a great deal about
sales to hotels, restaurants and bars.
That knowledge will come in handy
now, as the hotels and pubs trade is
tremendously important in Ireland.
The Irish take-home market is
negligible." Mr. Van der Minne gained
his marketing experience as product
manager for Beer Sales to the hotels
and bars trade, again with Heineken
in Holland. "That's where you learn to
draw up a marketing plan. Avery
useful exercise!"
Another important step in his career
was the move to the export
department. He became area export
manager Far East, setting up the
Heineken Oceania department in
Singapore in the years 1979-1982 and
spending some time there as general
manager. Immediately after that he
travelled further to Australia to set up
a Heineken branch there as well.
Two years ago Mr. Van der Minne
F. van der Minnenew general manager of Murphy's in Ireland.
Several months from now the
major replacement
operation of Heineken and
Amstel bottles and crates in Holland
will be rounded off with the
introduction of the new 50-cl bottle.
More than 25 million half-litre bottles
and 2.5 million new crates will be put
into circulation from 25 April
onwards. The introduction of the new
50-cl bottle is the final phase in a large-
scale replacement operation which
previously comprised the renewal of
the 30-cl bottle plus crate and the
introduction of the display crate.
Today's European standard half-litre
bottle is between 15 and 20 years old
and often bears the visible scars of
age.These result from the bottles
rubbing against each other as they
travel along the conveyor belts.This
causes scuff marks which show up
white after washing.
The new half-litre bottle is slightly
narrower and two centimetres higher
than its predecessor. Its weight and
colour (brown) will not change. Not
only will the Euro-bottle be
redesigned, but its 20-bottle crate will
also be replaced by a crate with 10
compartments. Market research has
shown that most Dutch consumers
feel that buying in twenty half-litre
bottles all at once is too big a quantity.
Only twenty per cent of all half-litre
bottles are sold in full crates.This is
why a 10-compartment crate has now
been chosen. Besides being almost
half as light as the present crate, the
new version is also easier to carry
thanks to the handle in the middle.
Anew line for filling the new-style
bottle is being assembled in
Zoeterwoude.The new bottling line
can fill 50,000 bottles an hour. If
everything goes according to plan,
trial production runs will start in
March.
returned to Holland to accept the post
of Regional Export Manager. The
regions he was responsible for were
Eastern Europe, the Caribbean and
Canada.
And now Mr. Van der Minne is taking
his leave of Holland yet again, this
time to take up the post of general
manager in Cork. "I've spent several
periods living abroad now - also
before I joined Heineken - and it
more or less seems to have got into my
blood. I think Holland is a fine place
to live in, but I have absolutely no
difficulty settling in another country. 1
wasn't familiar with Ireland before,
but I now know that it's a very
beautiful land with an interesting
history. Especially living out in the
countryside appeals to me.The
impression I also have is that life in
Ireland is not as hectic as it is in
Holland."
His extensive experience in the area of
exports may prove particularly useful
for Murphy's Stout. "That's true, it's
sure to help. We intend in future to
concentrate not only on the growth of
Murphy's Stout in the United
Kingdom, but also to look for
opportunities in other countries."
Over the past five years Murphy's
Brewery in Cork has gone through a
turbulent development under Mr. Van
Soest. How will things develop from
now on?
"In the space of those few years Mr.
Van Soest transformed the brewery
into" a modern business. My task is to
give the brewery an even stronger
basis and to strengthen its continuity.
One of the ways of achieving this will
be to tackle a number of aspects which
had to be left untouched in recent
years because of the rapid changes.
For instance, a lot still needs to be
done to improve quality control and
the service provided to hotels and
pubs. More attention has to be paid to
installing, cleaning and servicing the
draught beer dispensing units.
Further, my task will be to strengthen
Heineken lager's present position on
the Irish market and to achieve an
even bigger market share. We're also
thinking about responding to the
growing lager market by introducing a
second brand. What that brand will be
is not known as yet"says Mr. Van der
Minne.
The old Heineken and Amstel Eurobottles alongside the newcomers.
The handle in the middle of the new 10-compartment crates makes carrying a lot
easier.
The U.S. biochemist Thomas R. Cech will be awarded the
250,000-guilder Dr.H.P. Heineken Prize on 30 May.This prize,
Holland's biggest cash award, is presented by the Heineken
Foundation once every two years to a scientist nominated by the Royal
Dutch Academy of Sciences for outstanding research achievements in the
field of biochemistry and biophysics.
Aged 40,Tom Cech is the youngest scientist ever to be honoured with the
Dr. H.P. Heineken Prize. Cech is professor of biochemistry at the
University of Colorado. His research work has unleashed a revolution in
scientific thinking about events which preceded the origins of life on earth
and about the chemical reactions that take place in living organisms.
Not so long ago, scientists throughout the world were still firmly
convinced that all enzymes are protein molecules.Tom Cech, however,
proved that a completely different class of molecules, known as RNA
molecules, can in some cases also act like enzymes. In a living cell, Cech
discovered, RNAcan assume a dual role: as the blueprint for an enzyme,
but also as the actual enzyme itself.
Instituted on 6 February 1963, the Dr.H.P. Heineken Prize was officially
announced publicly on 3 April of that year. The date of the public
announcement was deliberately chosen: it coincided with the birthday of
Dr.H.P. Heineken, from whom the prize takes its name.
Dr.H.P. Heineken, the father of our present Executive Board Chairman,
Mr.A.H. Heineken, graduated in chemistry a few months before his
appointment as director of the family-owned brewery. During his lengthy
career Dr. Heineken always found time to take a lively interest in science
in general and chemistry in particular.
To date the Dr.H.P. Heineken Prize has been awarded once every three
years and from 1971 it carried a cash prize of200,000 guilders. As from this
year the prize will be awarded every alternate year. In addition the prize's
cash value has been increased to a quarter of a million guilders.
The prize has previously been awarded to eight other scientists.Two of
them later became Nobel Prize winners, which illustrates the
international prestige of the Dr.H.P. Heineken Prize.
