"Export still offers a world of opportunities"
HTB closely involved in
building Moroccan brewery
G.R. Habbershaw, new Heineken Export director:
Since September a Yorkshireman has been speeding on his
way to the office in Amsterdam. Nothing unusual? But it is
for the man in question. In fact he covers the distance
between his home (on the city's ring of canals) and his work
by bike, that typically Dutch way of getting about. For a
person not born in Holland and one who's also spent the past
few years living in the United States (where they even take
the car to go for a walk!), that bike is something unusual. The
man we're talking about is Mr. G.R. Habbershaw. He has
been in charge of Heineken's export department for the past
few months and is a man who likes "to work hard, enjoy life
and laugh a lot."
Dynamic
Excellent
Ideas
Motivation
Balance
For many years the beer market in Morocco remained
virtually stable. Fluctuations in beer sales in that North
African country were so small that the Brasseries du Maroc
brewery could easily keep up with the demand. Some years
ago the beer market changed totally. The annual growth rate
is now substantial and the three breweries of Brasseries du
Maroc are faced with a shortage of production capacity. It
was decided to build a new brewery - in cooperation with
HTB. October 1989 is the planned start-up date for the new
brewery.
Databook
HEINEKEN INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE NR. 17
PAGE 7
Mr. Habbershaw joined Heine-
ken in 1974. But he had already
been familiar with the company for
quite some time. Whilst working
for a management consultancy
bureau in the United Kingdom, he
was regularly asked to provide
Heineken with advice. His ideas
went down well with Heineken and
Mr. Habbershaw was asked if he
would perhaps like to work for
Heineken full-time.
At first he worked as marketing
manager Europe for more than two
years. During that period he was
closely involved in the acquisition
of Dreher in Italy. Then he moved
house with his wife and three
children to Milan, where he took
over the post of commercial
manager at Dreher. Of that period
he recalls: "I was closely involved in
the changes within Dreher. My job
was to make sure that everyone was
heading in the same direction.
Everyone had to have a clear
picture of the route we intended to
take with Dreher and they had to
appreciate the need to use the
inventiveness of the Italians."
The Italian adventure was
followed by what he himself
describes as "probably my best
work experience within Heine
ken". He was sent out to the Carib
bean where he became managing
director of the affiliate companies
National Brewing Company, in
Trinidad, and the Windward
Leeward Brewery on the island of
St. Lucia. "It was a very dynamic
environment and fiercely competi
tive. As the means of communica
tion were not all that brilliant, I was
forced to work a great deal on my
own. Incidentally, I think that most
of the really strategic work on those
islands was done by my predecessor
Mr. H. Drost."
"After a year holding the post of
managing director of two breweries
turned out to be too much. You
can't run a business from behind a
desk. You've got to take action on
the spot. So I decided to step down
as managing director of the
Windward Leeward Brewery",
explains Mr. Habbershaw.
The next step in his career was the
post of regional coordinating direc
tor for the Caribbean and North
America. His responsibilities
included supervising Heineken's
local operations on behalf of the
Board of Directors and maintaining
the contacts with Van Munching
Co.the importer of Heineken and
Amstel Light in the United States.
Mr. Habbershaw has great admira
tion for the importer: "It's an excel
lent organisation which works very
hard for Heineken, knows the
G.R. Habbershaw on the Thin Bridge: "Amsterdam is a tricky city for the
car driver. Here, cyclists have the upper hand, followed by pedestrians.
The motorist only comes in third. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. So I bought
a bike.
market better than anyone else and
puts in a maximum effort to
consolidate the position of our
products. They've built up a wealth
of experience and have coupled
that to their great dedication to
Heineken."
The new director has some clear-
cut ideas about exports. "I believe
we must introduce more creative-
ness into the export operation.
Marketing is becoming more and
more important; I think that the
export managers ought to be more
marketeers rather than traders.
Test-marketing different brands in
the export countries is also one of
their tasks. I see a bright future for
Amstel Light. For the non
alcoholic beer Buckler we'll still
need much effort to get it into the
markets, but the product is a superb
supplement to the total range.
Paying attention to other beer
brands doesn't mean that the role
of Heineken lager will diminish. I
can see enormous growth potential
for Heineken lager. Honestly, we
still have a whole world of oppor
tunities!"
Mr. Habbershaw acknowledges
the vital importance of a good
relationship with importers and
distributors: "They represent
Heineken and it's therefore our job
to continue to support and motivate
them. They have to understand
what we want, but we certainly also
have to understand what they
want!" Fact-finding on local
markets, getting to know customers
better, moving closer to the
customer - these are major areas
that receive Mr. Habbershaw's
attention. "I believe we need to
devote even more attention to
marketing and distribution. We've
got good quality products and a
strong position in the market. Our
competitive edge is formed by our
excellent distribution. That's where
our strength lies and that's where
we have to expand."
When 'tapping into' a new
market Heineken's policy is
broadly aimed first at exporting to
the relevant country for a period in
order to make an initial survey of
the market, then taking a tighter
grip on distribution via a licensing
contract with a local brewery and,
as a possible third stage, acquiring a
participation in a local brewery.
But this long-term planning is not
always standard practice. For
reasons of strategic balance it is
better in a number of countries to
maintain the existing export or
licensing operation.
The strong growth in the number
of participations, particularly in
Europe over the past fifteen years,
has scarcely had an influence on
Heineken Export's results, believes
Mr. Habbershaw. "Export has
intensified its focus on other
markets and has decentralised a
part of its activities so that it can
operate closer to the market.
Working from local branches in
Australia, Switzerland, Singapore
and on Curaqo is therefore begin
ning to bear fruit."
Digging a hole 4'h metres deep for
the foundations caused some
problems. Explosives were used to
blast through the hard rock.
Brasseries du Maroc compri:
three breweries (in Casablan
Tangier and Fez, where Heineken
beer is brewed under licence),
three bottling plants for both beer
and soft drinks, and a malting plant.
Except for the Tangier unit, all
breweries of Brasseries du Maroc
are located in city centre areas. This
not only hampers transport to and
from the brewery but is also an
obstacle to the requi red modernisa-
ion work"Modernising a brewery HTB
on a small site with difficult traffic
access is much more complicated
than building a new brewery",
explains Mr. M.H. de Jong who is
involved in the project on behalf of
HTB.
This modernisation is urgently
needed by Brasseries du Maroc to
keep pace with the growth in sales.
The management decided to set up
a new brewery in Tit Mellil, a
former village which has now been
transformed into an industrial
estate.
Brasseries du Maroc already
owns a site in Tit Mellil on which it
has a soft drinks plant. The plant
produces and fills soft drinks and
also bottles beer which is ferried in
by road tanker from the brewery in
the centre of Casablanca. The site is
big enough to accommodate a new
brewery, which will be built
alongside the bottling plant. The
intention is that the new brewery
will take over the production of
Heineken beer from the brewery in
Fez.
Three years ago preliminary
discussions were started between
and Brasseries du Maroc.
This ultimately resulted in the
signing of the contract in February
1987. Immediately after that HTB
set to work on compiling the
project databook. This bulky
volume contains accurate descrip
tions of what equipment is needed,
what requirements that equipment
has to meet, what standards have to
be applied during the brewing
process, and many more details.
After this report had been
approved, HTB specialists were
able to start an in-depth study of the
engineering, including for instance
the brewery lay-out. In addition, an
accurate description had to be
drawn up of all equipment, result
ing in a set of specifications which
were sent out to potential suppliers
with a request for price quotations.
Compiling an investment dossier,
required to obtain project clear
ance from the Moroccan govern
ment, was another time-consuming
job.
Construction work started in
June this year. Mr. De Jong expects
that the brewery will come on
stream next October. Brasseries du
Maroc will then have a modern
brewery with an annual capacity of
380,000 hectolitres. This capacity is
based on the storage time (3 to 4
weeks) for the brewery's own beer
brands and also on the production
of a specific quantity of Heineken
beer. The capacity can be easily
increased
hectolitres.
to half
-I
