AMSTELERIA
Spain
Italy
Regional Review
Western Europe
Artist's impression of an Amstel themed bar in Spain
expanding its distribution. Sales of
Affligem abbey beer rose sharply, helped
by the effective 'Bière-de-Lumière' adver
tising campaign which brought together
elements of spirituality, sensuality and
supreme quality. The shandy segment
grew strongly and Panach' Peche, a new
peach-flavoured addition to the Panach'
range of shandies, was successfully
launched. Pelforth Ambrée, a newcomer to
the Pelforth speciality beer range, was also
well received. Kriska, a vodka-flavoured
speciality beer which was introduced
in 2002, performed exceptionally well. "33"
Export Demi-Rondelle, the lemon-flavoured
beer introduced in 2002, did not come up
to expectations and was withdrawn.
Higher sales and higher result
After a disappointing 2002, the Spanish beer
market picked up in 2003, thanks to the
improving economic conditions, including
relatively low inflation, and the high temper
atures. Heineken Espaha's sales increased
from 10.1 million hectolitres to 10.8 million
hectolitres. Both the sales mix and the result
improved significantly.
The take-home segment continued to
grow and now accounts for 42% of the
Spanish beer market. Price competition
among the supermarket chains' own-label
beers is an important factor in this market
and the price gap with beers in the main
stream segment is widening. The premium
and speciality beer segments advanced at
the expense of the mainstream segment
and interest in alcohol-free beers contin
ued to grow.
Heineken Espaha's strategy of focusing
on selling its own brands in preference
to brewing own-label products for third
parties translated into significant growth
in own-brand sales and profitability and
a stable market share.
Brands
Consistent with the market trend,
Heineken Espaha's sales grew fastest in
the take-home segment. The Heineken
brand again posted double-digit growth,
as did Buckler, the alcohol-free beer,
helped by the launch of a new alcohol-free
variant and an ambitious advertising cam
paign which positioned it as the alcohol-
free beer with the best flavour. The main
stream Amstel and Cruzcampo beers also
achieved significant growth. The brand
portfolio was strengthened with the
addition of Paulaner, the speciality beer.
Marketing
Amstel was supported by a new
advertising campaign and local events in
the main regions. Amstel beer in the i-litre
Champions PET bottle, which was intro
duced in 2003, sold extremely well.
Distribution of Legado de Yuste, the first
Spanish abbey beer, was much expanded
and this speciality brew is now available
nationwide in the on-trade and on a
limited scale in the take-home segment.
The themed bar designs developed by
Heineken Espana for on-trade establish
ments continued to play a significant part
in stimulating growth in this segment.
These themed outlets are also helping to
establish a beer culture and strengthen
our relationship with our customers.
A new concept, the Amsteleria, was
devised in 2003 which takes as its theme
the world of the Amstel brand. The first
Amsteleria opened in January 2004.
The multi-year cost-cutting programme,
on which Heineken Espana embarked
after the enforced sale of breweries
in 2001, is proceeding according to plan.
A further cost-reduction programme
was developed in 2003 and will be
implemented in 2004.
Higher sales and result
The Italian beer market in 2003 showed
a marked improvement on 2002, with
Heineken Italia's sales up from 5.7 million
hectolitres to 6.0 million hectolitres.
An enforced change in the portfolio of
speciality beers resulted in a slight loss of
market share, but the sales mix improved
and the result was higher.
Despite lower consumer confidence,
reduced purchasing power and smaller
tourist numbers than in 2002, the Italian
beer market posted growth of over 7%,
due entirely to the exceptionally good
summer.
Brands
The principal brands - Heineken, Birra
Moretti and Ichnusa - gained market
share, but sales of our other mainstream
beers, with the exception of Dreher,
were lower. Interbrew decided to bring
the distribution of its beers in-house and
terminated its licensing agreement for
several of its beers prematurely. The Inter
brew portfolio was replaced by the
Heineken brands Fischer Blond, Brand,
Wieckse Witte and Affligem. Having also
report of the executive board
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