Regional Review
Western Europe
brands being cut by the retailers. Sales of
higher-priced beers did not benefit from
the focus on price engendered by the
many discounting campaigns.
Heineken Brouwerijen's loss of market
share was due to the brand's relatively
strong position in the on-trade, where
sales fell more sharply than the rest of the
beer market, and the growing competition
from low-priced canned beer brands in
the take-home segment.
Heineken Brouwerijen implemented a
drastic restructuring of its on-trade sales
organisation, the most significant change
being that both sales and advisory
functions are now more clearly focused
on particular types of on-trade establish
ment, thereby enabling Heineken to tailor
its services even more closely to the
customer's needs.
Brands
Heineken brand sales were down. The
brand was supported by the popular
'Biertje' campaign and the fashionable
new 'Six Pack' TV series. Major music
events sponsored by Heineken included
Pink Pop, the Fast Forward Dance Parade
and Dance Valley. Heineken launched a
33-cl PET bottle which had been specially
designed for events of this kind. The David
dispensing system for the on-trade, which
uses small 17-litre kegs, is proving a great
success and over 1,500 are now in use in
the Netherlands. The Tapvat, a 5-litre keg
with built-in tap for the take-home market,
was launched in December 2003. The new
12-pack of non-returnable 25-cl green
bottles was chosen by retailers as the best
new product on their shelves last year.
Amstel sales were virtually static. The
brand consolidated its second position in
the Netherlands, helped by the 'Three
Friends' campaign which was highly rated
by the public. One of the spots was chosen
by viewers as the best TV commercial of
the year.
The timing of the relaunch of Brand
Pilsener and Brand Urtyp as premium
beers was unfortunate, coming only three
weeks before the outbreak of the super
market price war. Brand Pilsener lost
ground, but Brand Urtyp (formerly Brand
Up) developed extremely well.
More fortunate, in that it benefited
from the good summer sales, was the
timing of Heineken Brouwerijen's relaunch
of speciality beer Wieckse Witte and low-
calorie Wieckse Lichte, with sales of the
Wieckse beers up 30% on 2002. Wieckse
Brut, a modern beer brewed with cham
pagne yeast, was launched in 2003. While
Desperados recorded healthy growth,
sales of Amstel Bright were lower.
The anti-litter campaign launched by
Heineken in partnership with other parties
in the brewing sector has been shown to
have had a significant effect.
Soft drinks
Despite the good summer, sales of Vru-
mona were lower. The traditional carbon
ated soft drinks, including cola, lemon/
lime and orange, continued to decline in
popularity and Vrumona responded by
expanding its range of still and low-carbo
nated drinks. From the summer onwards,
Vrumona started building a position in the
carton-packed drinks segment, with the
successful launch of several products
including Sisi Fruitmania, Crystal Clear and
JOY, a new tooth-friendly children's drink.
Vrumona started work in late 2003 on a
carton-filling line. The varieties launched
in 2002 and 2003 already account for
almost 10% of total volume. The reorganis
ation on which Vrumona embarked
in 2003 will involve a 15% reduction in
staffing levels in 2004.
France
Improved result in a slightly
firmer market
The exceptionally good weather brought
modest growth in the beer market.
Heineken France's sales remained stable
at 7.4 million hectolitres. Home-market sales
grew in line with the market, so that the
market share remained unchanged,
and export sales were lower. The result
improved, mainly due to the growth of the
Heineken brand.
Growth in the beer market was tempered
by the downward trend in beer consump
tion, the marked decrease in the number
of tourists from countries outside the euro
zone and the government's campaign to
combat drink-driving. Most of the growth
potential in the French beer market is in
the premium and speciality beer
segments. With the economy remaining
weak, the low-priced segment also grew
last year.
Brands
The Heineken brand increased its share
of the premium segment, helped by
the launch of the new international can,
the wider availability of the exclusive
aluminium bottle in clubs and dance
venues and the new print-media and
billboard advertising campaigns.
Sales of Amstel, which is only distributed
via the on-trade, were slightly lower, in line
with the on-trade market for mainstream
beers, but sales of "33" Export, the local
mainstream beer, improved a little.
Desperados consolidated its leading
position in the speciality beers segment by
HEINEKEN N.V. ANNUAL REPORT 2003
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