Employment
Minister visited
Brarudi
APPOINTMENTS
Big emphasis on taste
in Belgian Buckler campaign
More Murphy's Stout sold
in U.K. than in Irish market
Oops!
wrong photo!
I
"Tastes so good that you
don't miss the alcohol" is the
message of the international
advertising campaign used
for Buckler. In Belgium es
pecially, all Buckler advertis
ing emphasises the 'taste' as
pect. That's understandable,
for Belgium is a country with
a rich beer culture: 115 brew
eries brew six hundred
brands of beer. So the Bel
gian beer drinker has pam
pered taste buds, which
meant that in introducing
Buckler, Heineken Import
Belgium had to give promi
nence to the product's quality
flavour.
Murphy's Stout is going
great guns in the United
Kingdom. F. van der Minne,
General Manager of Mur
phy's Brewery Ireland, ex
pects that this year more
Murphy's Stout will be drunk
in the U.K. than in the Irish
home market.
PAGE 6
Mr. Karikurubu (right) with Brarudi's general manager P. Lebru.
Brasseries et Limonaderies du Burundi, or Brarudi for short, had
a distinguished visitor recently. Burundi's Employment Minister,
Mr. Charles Karikurubu, called in on the brewery as part of the
new impulse being given to the dialogue between government and
industry. It's not surprising that Mr. Karikurubu chose Brarudi as
the start for his round of visits to Burundi businesses. The brew
ery, in which Heineken has a stake of almost 60 per cent, is the
country's biggest company, employing 792 people and contribut
ing some 25% to the national budget!
Mr. Karikurubu was welcomed by Mr. P. Lebru, Brarudi's gen
eral manager. The minister was given a guided tour of the brewery
and the soft drinks plant and then spent an hour talking with the
Brarudi management about such subjects as labour relations and
training courses.
The Employment Minister's visit offered a good opportunity for
detailed talks on labour relations and training courses.
Mr. J.H. Drost, the new mem
ber of the Board of Directors with
effect from 1st October 1989, will
assume responsibility for our ac
tivities in the Western Hemisphere.
Until that time this region will be
split, with Mr. Van Schaik still re
taining responsibility for Canada
and the Caribbean and Mr. Van de
Vijver in charge of Central and
South America. Both gentlemen
will transfer their responsibilities
to Mr. Drost on 1 st October.
A.H. Gerards was recently ap
pointed head of the newly estab
lished Heineken Marketing Beh
eer. For the time being he will
combine this work with his post as
corporate manager physical distri
bution.
Mr. W.A. van der Pol has been
appointed Regional Coordinating
Manager Western Hemisphere. He
succeeds Mr. B.D.J, van Rompu.
who has been appointed general
manager of Brasserie de Bourbon
on lie de la Réunion.
S. Hiemstra. formerly soft
drinks export manager, has been
appointed area export manager
based in South Korea. Mr. Hiem
stra is responsible both for exports
to South Korea and for evaluating
the possibilities for local produc
tion there. J.W. Deurvorst. area
export manager North Africa,
Middle East and Israel, succeeds
Mr. Hiemstra as soft drinks export
manager. D.F.B. van den Bigge-
laar, until recently trade manager
with the Dutch Spirits and Wine
Group (GWN), has been appoint
ed as Mr. Deurvorst's successor.
The former sales director of
Brasserie de Brazzaville, Mr.
I. Schuringa. has been appointed
area export manager Rest of Afri
ca.
To respond more effectively to
market developments in Europe, it
has been decided to set up a Brand
Management department. Within
this new department Mr. P. Dad-
zis has been appointed corporate
brand manager Europe for the
Heineken brand with effect from
1st August 1989. He previously
worked with Amstel Brewery
Canada Ltd. A.P.H. van Heering-
en, previously with PT Multi Bin-
tang in Indonesia, has been ap
pointed corporate brand manager
for the Amstel and Buckler
brands.
Tasting tests conducted by Hei
neken Import Belgium, supple
mented by surveys by the advertis
ing agency, confirm the Belgian
beer drinker's great appreciation
for Buckler. In a taste comparison
between Buckler and two other
non-alcoholic beers, the consumer
rated Buckler head and shoulders
above the others.
In a mailing shot the new prod
uct was presented to the beer
trade. Consumers have been in
formed about Buckler over the
past few months via advertise
ments in leading Belgian maga
zines.
Distribution
Of vital importance for the in
troduction of a new product is a
good distribution network. In Bel
gium the beer merchants play an
essential role in this. The hotels,
restaurants and bars trade orders
its products from the beer mer
chants (some 2,100 in all!) who in
turn order their products from the
various breweries. Heineken Im
port Belgium sought contact with
a brewery to handle the distribu
tion of Buckler (and Heineken
beer). This June an agreement was
reached with Brouwerij De Ko-
ninck, a brewery which will dis
tribute Buckler and Heineken beer
for the Flemish part of Belgium.
"The brewery has a good reputa
tion and has ambitions to expand.
To date it has concentrated fully
on the Antwerp region, where the
brewery is located, and on the
Netherlands. To expand in the re
mainder of Belgium it will be able
to use the new product Buckler,
and we'll be able to use De Ko-
ninck's reputation to back the
Buckler introduction. In that way
we'll be helping each other", says
Mr. P. Boets, head of Heineken
Import Belgium.
Marketing function
The same arrangement is also
being applied in Wallonia, the
French-speaking part of Belgium.
Brasserie de Silly, which already
operated as importer and distribu
tor of Heineken beer for the duty
free market in Belgium (mainly
for the military market) will be
handling the distribution of Buck
ler. Brasserie de Silly is mainly
known in that region for its popu
lar Double Enghien beer. Both
breweries will be supported by
Heineken Import Belgium which
will chiefly act in a marketing
function.
Expectations for Buckler in
Belgium are optimistic. The mar
ket for alcohol-free beers is show
ing a sharp upward climb and Mr.
Boets can envisage Buckler grow
ing within four to five years to a
sales level of 50.000 hectolitres a
year, which is equivalent to a mar
ket share of about 30%.
Sales in Great Britian were al
ready showing good progress, but
now that Murphy's Stout is being
brewed under licence by Whit-
bread, the brand also has access to
Whitbread's 7,000 tied public
houses. Murphy's Stout is being
backed by the entire Whitbread
sales force.
To strengthen the brand. Mur
phy's is also sponsoring a leading
golf tournament.
Attentive readers were quick to
ring us after their first glance at the
June issue of Heineken Interna
tional Magazine. Our article about
the new plastic returnable bottle,
recently introduced by soft drinks
producer Vrumoma, showed the
wrong photo. The plastic bottle
pictured was the non returnable
version. The returnable bottle has
a very different shape. We thought
you'd like to see a picture of the
one and only plastic returnable
bottle.
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