16
In March 1987 the Court of Justice in
Luxembourg decided that the present
German beer legislation is wrongly being
used to prevent the import of beers from
other EEC countries which do not comply
with the German regulations. These beers
will therefore in general have to be al
lowed into Germany. These altered cir
cumstances will also be a factor in the
determination of our policy towards the
German market.
Beer sales in Europe
(in millions of hectolitres)
14.2
15.2
19.3
24.8
25.5
The whole year 1986 was characterized
by tensions in the field of commercial
relations between the European Commu
nity and its principal trading partner, the
United States. We consider ourselves
fortunate that in January 1987 the out
break of an escalating trade war between
the two economic blocks was prevented
at the last moment.
In the course of 1986 the United States
did indeed lay down import quotas for
European beer in certain packagings.
Our sales were ultimately not affected
by this.
Conflicts relating to trade policy remain
a constant threat to industry in general
and to the agro-industry such as ours in
particular. We continue to be of the opini
on that it is not right to pass the problems
of general international trade policy on
to arbitrarily chosen enterprises and in
dustries.
We hope that in the near future a reorien
tation between the world's big trading
blocks with regard to trade policy, pro
tectionism and agricultural policy will lead
to a permanent relaxation of tension.
The Netherlands
In 1986, in contrast to the previous year,
beer consumption in the Netherlands
showed an increase, particularly as a
result of the considerably better weather.
Consequently beer consumption per
capita rose slightly to 85.9 litres. The
increase in the total market was roughly
equally divided between the take-home
sector and the hotel, restaurant and café
sector.
1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
Our operating company Heineken Neder
land B.V. similarly achieved higher sales,
as a result of which earnings improved.
The competitive pressure from the chea
per brands was still present in 1986,
albeit to a lesser degree.
In the hotel, restaurant and café market
we managed to strengthen our position.
Our sales in the take-home sector fell
slightly.
In December 1986 the introduction of
our new product Amstel 1870 was an
nounced. With this beer brand we are
entering what is for us a new taste seg
ment in the Dutch market.
For the beers from Brouwerij De Ridder
in Maastricht, which are now being sold
nation-wide, a new presentation was
developed. Sales showed steady growth
during the year under review.
The increasing demand for canned beer
led to the installation of a second canning
line in 's-Flertogenbosch with a capacity
of 60,000 cans per hour. This line is
capable of filling widely varying sizes -
largely for export.
In the last quarter of 1986 a start was
made with the previously announced
change-over to the new 30-centilitre bott
les with the appropriate crates. Arrange
ments have been made with the govern
ment authorities and environmental
organizations regarding the objections
which have arisen regarding the use of
cadmium pigment as colouring matter in
these crates. Heineken has undertaken,
amongst other things, to ensure that
when the crates are destroyed the cad
mium pigment will not find its way into
the environment.
For all the new crates the dimensions
now fit within the standard packaging
requirements.
The other advantage for both the trade
and the consumer is that the new 30-
centilitre bottle and crate are lighter, so
that they are easier to carry and to trans
port. The change-over to new bottles
and crates was accompanied by modifi
cation of the bottling lines.
We were disappointed to learn of the
