Clear approach brings success
for cloudy 'white beer'
Wieckse Witte conquers Holland
HEINEKEN INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE NO. 35 PAGE 5
Wieckse Witte came, saw and conquered. Brewery De
Ridder in Maastricht adopted a clear yet shrewd approach.
Scarcely five months after the product's nation-wide distri
bution, the number of sales outlets (on-premise and liquor
stores) had already reached 2,500.
Rob Stevens and Wim van Wijk
alongside one of the two brewing
kettles in Brewery De Ridder.
the ideal pack form for a speciality
beer like Wieckse Witte. The consu
mer is not interested in a whole
crate'.
Capacity
There is one further reason why
Brewery De Ridder doesn't want to
see its 'white beer' on the supermar
ket shelves for the time being. 'De
Ridder is a very small brewery with a
total capacity of some 75,000 hecto
litres. That means that we want to
keep close control over the growth of
Wieckse Witte. We also brew Ridder
pilsener and specialities like Ridder
Maltezer and we don't want to lose
them by having to use our full capa
city for Wieckse Witte', explains
Stevens.
The big question is whether
'white beer' can in due course main
tain a firm foothold in the beer mar
ket or whether the consumer will
ultimately start looking round for
another speciality beer. Rob Stevens:
'At the moment white beer is the fas
test-growing segment within the spe
ciality beers. Research has shown
that 45% of the on-premise outlets in
the Netherlands currently stock one
or more speciality beers. A quarter of
them sell white beer and we estimate
that this can climb to 35%. I am con
vinced that white beer is here to stay
on the Dutch market, but I'm also
well aware that we won't be able to
hold on to all the consumers who are
From left, master brewer Wim van Wijk, general manager Rob Stevens and
sales manager Fons Moonen raise glasses to the success of Wieckse Witte.
Wheat, malted barley, yeast,
herbs (including coriander) and or
ange peel. Master brewer Wim van
Wijk is not willing to disclose any
more details of the Wieckse Witte
recipe. Together with Heineken
Nederland's central quality depart
ment, he has spent a year and a half
working on the development of this
(top-fermenting) 'white beer'. First,
looking for the best type of wheat
and the most suitable yeast strain.
Then, constantly trying out different
new blends of herbs. 'The blend had
to be such that none of the herbs
would have a dominant taste note'.
Eighteen months later a 'white
beer' of real class emerged from the
storage tanks. In a comparative tast
ing test half of the participants rated
Wieckse Witte as the best 'white
beer'.
A positive reaction also came in
from professional circles. Pierre
Celis, former brewery owner and
(white beer) brewer at Hoegaarden in
Belgium, got to know Wieckse Witte
at an outdoor pavement café in
Maastricht, walked into the brewery
and complimented Wim van Wijk on
'a splendid product'. For a brewer
what could be nicer than receiving a
compliment from the 'father' of
today's white beer?
Wim van Wijk is justifiably proud
of Wieckse Witte but he still wants to
play his cards close to his chest.
'Within Heineken there is hardly any
experience with brewing a top-fer
menting beer. We still don't have
enough knowledge of a number of
aspects of white beer. For me there
are still plenty of questions to be an
swered.'
Small scale
On 19 December 1990 Wieckse
Witte was officially launched in the
most small-scale way imaginable: in
Maastricht, the home city of
Brewery De Ridder. Maastricht's
burgomaster tapped the first glass of
Wieckse Witte, signalling the start of
what sales manager Fons Moonen
describes as a 'phased introduction'.
'We worked on the basis of a rip
ple effect. We started with Wieckse
Witte in selected cafés in Maastricht.
At the hotels, restaurants and bars
trade fair which was held in
Maastricht in January we in fact cre
ated demand for the product by being
highly selective in choosing new
sales outlets. That aroused the curi
osity of bar owners.'
Phase two started in April when
the seven university cities in Holland
were given the chance to get the taste
of Wieckse Witte. Here again, the
image of the on-premise outlet was
carefully checked to make sure it fit
ted in with a product like Wieckse
Witte. In each student city ten to fif
teen bars were given the 'privilege'
of selling Wieckse Witte.
But doesn't this approach smack
of arrogance?
Absolutely! But we know that we
can adopt a slightly haughty attitude
because it's such a tremendously
good product. You can't be arrogant
if you've got nothing to offer', says
Rob Stevens, the recently appointed
new general manager of Brewery De
Ridder.
In the summer came the third
phase of the introduction: the further
extension of distribution, making
grateful use of the distribution net
work of 'parent' Heineken. Whole
sale drinks merchants and agents for
Heineken, Amstel and Brand inclu
ded Wieckse Witte in their range and
ensured that the number of sales out
lets grew explosively within a short
space of time.
Liquor stores
During the same period the off-
licence stores were also approached.
Rob Stevens: 'In the initial phase we
deliberately stayed away from the
liquor stores a little so that we could
focus all attention on Wieckse Witte
in the on-premise outlets. Liquor
store owners were very interested in
Wieckse Witte, especially because
we decided that the product will pro
visionally not be supplied to the
supermarkets. As soon as you do
that, the product becomes less attrac
tive to the liquor store owner, as
rivalry between individual supermar
ket chains often leads to price ero
sion. Liquor store owners can't com
pete against low-margin prices like
those'. By the end of October the
number of sales outlets for bottled
beer had already climbed to 1,200.
Wieckse Witte is the only beer in
Holland to be sold in a six-pack with
a carry-handle. 'Such a six-pack is
currently still in the 'try-out' stage.'
White beer is a product which -
even more so than lager - sells parti
cularly well in the summer months.
But, according to Fons Moonen, it
would be wrong to claim that the
market for white beer plummets as
soon as the leaves start falling. 'Of
course, proprietors lose their outdoor
sales in pavement cafés, but we
know that people are very satisfied
with sales of Wieckse Witte over the
bar counter'
Advertising
The success of Wieckse Witte is
even more remarkable in view of the
fact that not a cent has been spent on
advertising over the past year. 'We
feel that conveying the brand image
in the café is very important; special
Wieckse Witte glasses and beer
mats. Maybe we'll do some adverti
sing in future, but it won't be much.
We are considering advertisements
in trade magazines and consumer
publicity in the city of Maastricht.
Commercials on radio and TV would
only enter into it if we ever decided
to supply the product to the super
market chains.'
Very cautiously, possibili
ties for Wieckse Witte are also
being studied outside Hol
land's borders. In the French
university city of Toulouse a
small-scale project is being
undertaken by Fran§aise de
Brasserie to find out whether
Wieckse Witte has a chance of
success under the name Yseult.
Two shipments of 98 kegs each
have been sent to Toulouse via
Heineken's Export Transport
Department.
The test with Yseult forms
part of a project that Fran§aise
de Brasserie has launched
under the name 'Bières du
Monde'. Frangaise de Brasse
rie wants to put various world-
class beers on the French mar
ket. Murphy's Irish Stout was
one such beer, Wieckse Witte
(or Yseult) might be a new
addition to the range.
