HEINEKEN CANS IN HANDY SUITCASE
M.A. Makinde a Knight in
the Order of Oranje Nassau
El Aguila personnel regain
pride in their own brewery
I
PAGE 6
HEINEKEN INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE NR. 13
Sogebra a wholly owned
Heineken subsidiary
From next month a new pack for
Heineken beer in cans will be on
display in Dutch shops. It is a card
board carry-case containing twelve
cans of Heineken lager. With this
new pack Heineken is not only
responding to the growing demand
for beers in cans in recent years, but
also to the consumer trend towards
buying more cans each time.
The can suitcase is handy both in
the home (easy to stow in the
fridge) and outdoors (the sturdy
carrying carton). The top ofthe case
can also be opened so that empty
cans can be put back inside and
carried away for later disposal in a
suitable place.
At the beginning ofFebruary this
year the former Managing Director
of Nigerian Breweries Ltd.(NBL),
Mr. M.A. Makinde, was made a
Knight in the Order of Oranje
Nassau. He was presented with the
award for all the good work he did
as chairman of the Nigerian-Dutch
Chamber ofCommerce and for his
great services to NBL, in which
Heineken has a substantial share
holding.
Mr. Makinde recently resigned
from his post at NBL upon
reaching retirement age and after a
career in which he started out as
office boy in the accounts depart
ment and ended in the top job in
the company. He still continues to
hold the post of chairman of the
Nigerian-Dutch Chamber of
Commerce.
The Netherlands Ambassador in
Nigeria, Mr. L.P.J. Mazairac,
presented Mr. Makinde with the
insignia of the Order. The photos
show the ambassador pinning the
decorations on Mr. Makinde, who
is flanked by Mr. H.F.M.
Coebergh, member of the
Heineken N.V Board of Managing
Directors, and Mr. J.W den Hond,
Regional Co-ordinating Director
Africa.
At our El Aguila operating company major changes have taken
place since 1983.From the moment when Heineken acquired an
interest in El Aguila, everything changed for the employees. And,
as is clear to see, they were changes for the better. But what did the
employees themselves think about it all? Heineken International
Magazine talked to two employees about their experiences during
those turbulent years.
Old style
Pascual Cerdan Robles (40)
mainly knows El Aguila from "after
'83", but he still sampled the old
style of business. Eight months
before Heineken came along, he
joined El Aguila in the sales depart
ment as representative for sales to
bars and hotels in part of Madrid.
Previously Mr. Robles had spent
several years as ajoumalist. But for
the greater part of his previous
career he had been a salesman for
personal computers. Isn't that a
very big change - from selling
computers to selling beer? "No",
smiles Mr. Robles, "there's not
really all that much difference
between selling computers or beer.
The relationship with your cus
tomers stays the same and the
most important thing is to sell
your product. It doesn't matter
what sort of product it is. I started at
El Aguila because beer was a prod
uct that interested me. It's really
a worthwhile product to sell."
Interesting
His first impression of El Aguila:
"El Aguila was an old business with
an old-fashioned way of working.
When Heineken came into El
Aguila, it was very interesting for
me to watch how everything
changed in such a short space of
time. I noticed that my customers
were reassured that such a big
company as Heineken was backing
El Aguila. In their eyes El Aguila
had suddenly become a great
business again. Robles regards
himself as a real "Aguila man". "I
like El Aguila, but it feels good to
have the backing of the Heineken
concern. I notice that every day
when I'm selling. I use the
Heineken name to give El Aguila
extra authority and the customers
are impressed. Heineken's pres
tige helps me to sell."
Luis Martin Casas (32) is the
head of Warehousing and Internal
Transport at the El Aguila brewery
in Algete, twenty kilometres north
of Madrid. He is responsible for all
the filled beer and for all packaging
materials on the brewery site.
Together with the head of Brewing
and the head of Bottling, he super
vises day-to-day operations and
reports to the production manager.
Luis Casas started his career with
El Aguila in 1975 as a loading and
unloading inspector. After that he
worked for five years in the
accounts section of the Internal
Transport department. "The big
improvement in the past few years
is the excellent contact we now
have between marketing and
production. That's the big strength
of the Heineken organisation. For
merly we didn't have a Despatch
department to pass on the informa -
tion that our department needs.
Production and marketing
operated completely as separate
entities. And that meant that I
couldn't plan my own work. But
of course the steady decline
in production was another factor
that contributed to that problem."
The Despatch department now
ensures that the Warehousing and
Internal Transport department
knows in advance exactly which
lorries have to be loaded, at what
time and with what products.
Peace of mind
Initially, Heineken's arrival at El
them it's much easier to feel at
home within a big concern like
Heineken", says Mr. Casas.
Aguila did not, according to Casas,
bring the peace of mind that was
needed. "We didn't know
Heineken and at first we didn't
know what its plans were for the
future. We were scared we might
lose our jobs. The head of Person
nel, together with the general
manager, gave a presentation
about Heineken and its plans. The
workforce was still a bit hesitant,
but during the many talks that have
followed since you could really see
how confidence in Heineken was
steadily growing."
"We now take a sense of pride in
working for El Aguila and it's fine to
be able to work within the
Heineken structure. People who
only started working for El Aguila
after Heineken had come along
have no idea what sort of
atmosphere existed in the pastFor
Heineken N. V. has reached
agreement with Compagnie
des Brasseries et Glacières
Internationales "B. G.I.S.A
on acquiring that company's
interest in Sogebra S.A. The
49% B.G.I, shareholding in
Sogebra will be purchased by
Heinekenfor the sum of about
200 million guilders. Sogebra
will then be consolidated as a
wholly owned Heineken
subsidiary. The effective
transfer of ownership will take
place once the required ap
proval has been obtained
from theFrench authorities.
Sogebra is the holding
company in which B.G.I, and
Heineken have grouped to
gether their brewery interests.
Heineken acquired its initial
51% stake in Sogebra in 1984.
Luis Casas: "Better contact between marketing and production"
Pascual Robles: "Customers now have more faith in El Aguila again"
Pascual Robles, salesman in Madrid:
"The Heineken name helps me when
I'm selling.
Luis Casas, head of the internal trans
port and warehousing department in
San Sebastian: "Proud to work for El
Aguila".
