21.
boost our leading brand in some important markets,
including France. On the other hand, volumes of
the Amstel brand were slightly lower at year end,
despite growth in the Netherlands.
In some Western European markets, the increasing
importance of the off-trade and the switch to
lower-priced beers is pressuring pricing. We are
countering the trends by improving our offer
to consumers and by increasing investments
in marketing.
To improve our offer to consumers we created new
products, focused our execution in the on-trade,
invested substantially in refrigerators and improved
our offering of cold beer in the on- and off-trade
in most Southern European countries.
We have also accelerated the roll out of various
draught beer systems, such as XtremeDraught,
and the DraughtKeg. BeerTender, a home-draught
system for daily use was introduced in 2003 in
Switzerland, in 2004 in the Dutch market and
in 2005 in Austria, with great success.
high-profile showcases for our products in the
on-trade and by investing in new entertainment
and cultural projects. These include Valencia's
Greenspace event, a unique fusion of music, film,
design and creative energy, and La Culture Bière
in Paris, a vibrant, gastronomic and retail experience
dedicated to the celebration of beer.
In the existing competitive environment it is crucial
to improve the efficiency of our operations. In 2005,
we focused our efforts mainly on the production
in France, Italy and Spain. In addition, we have
conducted benchmarking initiatives in distribution
to determine what restructuring measures might
be needed and to help us in establishing best
practice and driving performance.
In 2006, we will continue to drive our cost reduction
programmes, while improving organic growth and
price and sales mix. The impact of restructuring
and additional marketing efforts should help in
supporting top-line growth and improving profitability
in the long term.
We are also working to bolster the image of beer
as the right beverage for more occasions by
supporting entrepreneurs who are creating
Galaxy glasses
Innovation to drive growth extends even to
glassware. In the Netherlands, Heineken
introduced the new 'Galaxy' glass for the
on-trade. The new glass better supports a
perfect draught beer and is stronger and
stacks more easily.
Heineken Honcho
Creating a talked-about promotional
give-away is a successful way to draw
attention and create a positive response.
Heineken in the Netherlands introduced
a multi-functional promotional item, the
Heineken Honcho, that can be used in both
rain and sunshine. The promotional
campaign resulted in a 5 percent increase
in Heineken's market share of the canned
beer market and a sell-out of all in-store
promotional packages.
Heineken N.V. - Annual Report 2005