Europe
15
Regional developments
Europe
In Europe, in addition to the international
beer brands Heineken and Amstel, a number
of national brands are brewed and marketed.
The enterprise has breweries in the
Netherlands. France. Spain, Italy, Greece
and Ireland. In addition, Group brands are
produced and sold by independent licensees
in Britain, Italy, Norway and Sweden.
Soft drinks are produced and marketed by
our companies in the Netherlands. France
and Italy.
Production of spirits takes place in the
Netherlands.
Exports from the Netherlands, particularly
of beer, occupy an important position in
our activities.
Political efforts within the European
Community are aimed at bringing about
a fully integrated internal market by the
end of 1992. As things look at present,
however, this integration will not be
completed in all respects in that year.
Nevertheless, within the foreseeable
future drastic steps will be taken within
the framework of the complete liber
alization of the movement of persons,
goods, services and capital.
The food and beverages industry is now
characterized above all by a nationally
oriented production, which is due
amongst other things to statutory
enactments. The food and beverages
industry has to comply with high demands
on quality. Care must be taken to ensure
that we are not in the end confronted
with a policy in the European context
whereby the minimum quality
requirements for the European market
come to be at too low a level.
The forthcoming integration of markets
within the European Community opens
possibilities for us of a wider-scale
approach beyond the existing frontiers.
On the other hand, greater competition
will have to be expected.
Maintenance of the quality and image of
our products will continue to receive high
priority.
As a result of a judgment by the
European Court of Justice in March 1987,
the German market is now in principle
open to imported beer. When we proceed
in due course to the export of our beer
to West Germany, our aim will be to
achieve nationwide distribution.
During the year under review the
European Commission put forward
proposals for arriving at harmonization
of the excise duty on alcoholic beverages.
It will have to be ensured that, from the
angle of excise duty, beer does not come
to be in a disadvantageous position in
relation to other alcoholic products.
The Netherlands
The poor summer of 1987 had a
considerable effect on beer consumption
in the Netherlands. Consumption per
capita fell from 85.9 litres to 84.3 litres.
The market for bottled beer, which is
largely sold in the take-home sector,
showed a decline. For draught beer,
which is sold almost exclusively in the
hotel, restaurant and café sector, sales
were at the previous years level.
The lower consumption led to a fall in
beer sales by our operating company
Heineken Nederland B.V., with margins
remaining approximately the same. Sales
of bottled beer ran parallel to the trend
of the market segment as a whole. In
the draught beer segment our market
share showed a slight decline. There
was considerable growth in 1987 in the
sales of Brouwerij de Ridder B.V.,
Maastricht.
During the year under review Amstel
1870 was launched. This new product
was well received by both the trade and
the consumers, and we expect interest
to increase further. In April 1988 Amstel
Light beer is to be marketed; this beer
contains fewer calories and has a lower
alcohol content than our other types of
beer.
The replacement of the 30-centilitre bottle
by new bottles with appropriate crates
has gone according to plan.
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