Heineken barman
Italy's top
DREHER
Macomer, has two bottling lines and one
small keg filling plant, all producing the
Dreher brand. The entire ouput is sold on
the island, which, as already noted, has a
per capita beer consumption rate far
higher than that of any other part of Italy.
Not surprisingly, local supplies of Dreher
are supplemented by growing imports of
Heineken from the mainland.
The reason for this heavy beer demand
may lie partly in the fact that Sardinians
have a strong sense of hospitality. A visi
tor to any home on the island is sure of a
courteous welcome and the offer of re
freshment, perhaps a glass of Dreher or - a
growing possibility - of Heineken.
Pilsener type beer apart, there is also a cer
tain kinship with some parts of Holland in
the fact that Sardinia's colourful tradi
tional costumes are still widely worn,
particularly in mountain towns and vil
lages.
The coming of Heineken is not the only
incursion by an internationally known
beverage. There is also a substantial local
demand for Coca-Cola - and Dreher plays
a significant part in satisfying it. The com
pany is sole shareholder in Sosib Spa,
which bottles 'Coke' in a plant at Cagliari,
Sardinia's capital, under a contract held
since 1963.
Italianate architecture
The brewery at Genoa, Italy's major north
ern port, was founded in 1906 and taken
into the Dreher group in 1952.
The plant is unusual among brewery
installations in its kinship to Italian archi
tecture. Something in the colouring and
symmetry of the installations suggests a
relationship with the Italianate architec
ture of the large cities.
This echo of Italian cultural tradition in a
commercial setting underlines the way
that the beer industry, in adapting itself to
the needs of the Italian market, has taken
on an essentially Italian character. Yet the
windmills of the Heineken posters were an
essentially Dutch signature, a reminder of
the international influences accompanying
Italy's gradual but significant change in
drinking habits.
'Avanti con la birra'the watchword of the
industry's promotion programme, would
sound faintly amusing in any other lan
guage. In Italian it has a vigorous ring of
enthusiasm that bodes well for the future
of Heineken and Dreher in the land of
song.
Mr. Gabriele Gislon pours a better beer
than any other man in Italy. This he proved
when he won the final of the Heineken
draught beer competition at Milan and so
became star Heineken barman for 1980.
To do so he achieved a finer head of foam
than 19 other finalists, the cream of 120
barmen who had contested elimination
competitions in four regions of Northern
Italy. Mr. Gislon's expertise won him and
his wife a weekend in Holland plus a hand
some trophy.
The silo-building at Massafra brewery
Mr. and Mrs. Gislon pictured in Holland during their prize
holiday.
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