Research and development In our endeavour towards further improvement of the quality of our products, considerable efforts were again made during the year under review in the field of research and development. Amongst other things, attention was paid to relevant scientific developments, product development, quality control, cost effectiveness, environmental aspects and comparative production data from the brewing industry. With regard to the last-mentioned item, data from our own breweries and external data are compared in a large number of respects, so that in each case the most efficient working method per element of the production process can be identified and applied generally. In many of our breweries, both in Europe and elsewhere, one of the tools we use for that purpose is an automated system that makes numerous data comparable, such as water and energy consumption, process efficiency and production costs. In quality management we concentrate on the optimum control of all elements of the production process, from the purchase of raw materials and packaging materials to the re-use or processing of the packaging used. The introduction of a quality assurance system according to the ISO 9002 standards is running on schedule. It is our aim to have all our European breweries certified by 1995. As in previous years, consumer tasting panels were called upon in order to remain closely aware of the users' preference. This is not only important so as to further perfect the existing products, but also to complete the product range. The results have helped to lead to the development of several new products. In view of the consumer's taste preference, attention is also paid to the development of special beers which, owing to the divergent local preferences, are often introduced in only one market or a limited number of markets. The Dutch brewers have taken the initiative for an investigation into increasing the possibilities for the use of spent grains, an important by-product of the brewing process. Various scientific institutions are co-operating in this project. In collaboration with several European brewery enterprises we are carrying out research into the development of high- grade varieties of brewing barley. In 1993 this project entered the second phase, which is mainly aimed at practical applications. It will still take some considerable time, however, before concrete results are obtained. 22

Jaarverslagen en Personeelsbladen Heineken

Jaarverslagen | 1993 | | pagina 30