81.0mhl €10,629m
33.6% €1,436m
149mhl 35.7%
Europe
We delivered positive revenue
growth driven by our premium
portfolio. We invested in our business
to provide a greater service and
experience for customers and
consumers through digitalisation.
O O Qs
Introduction
Report of the Executive Board
Report of the Supervisory Board
Financial Statements
Sustainability Review
Heineken N.V. Annual Report 2019
Other Information
In Europe we continued with our focus on
premiumisation and innovation and maintained
positive results.
Heineken® was a success with 3.1% organic volume
growth, including more consumers enjoying
Heineken® 0.0 in over 20 markets.
Beer volumes in Europe were marginally lower
as result of poor weather over the summer and a
challenging comparable with the FIFA World Cup
in 2018. Premiumisation continued in the region,
with markets such as Italy, Austria and Portugal
delivering a strong performance.
There was strong revenue growth in Italy, Austria,
Portugal, Germany, Hungary and Romania.
This was driven by continued focus on international
premium brands Heineken®, Birra Moretti and
Desperados and local premium brands such as
Ichnusa, Messina, Lasko, Soproni and Ciuc.
Our strategy is to provide variety and choice
through our Zero Zone range of low- and no-alcohol
beverages which caters for different occasions to
create a sustainable, long-term business.
We are now promoting zero-alcohol beverages
with over 40 brands in European markets.
Greater visibility of 0.0 beers in on- and off-trade
outlets and advertising campaigns are igniting
the segment across the region.
Our strategy to develop the cider category
beyond traditional home markets continued
to pay off, in particular in Spain where we are
creating a new category with the successful
launch of Ladrón de Manzanas, the local version
of Orchard Thieves.
The craft category grew significantly in 2019.
We started brewing Lagunitas in our brewery
in the Netherlands. Line extensions like Affligem
Cuvée Legere in France and local craft El Aguila
in Spain are showing promising results in
local markets.
We have continued our strategy to selectively
invest in craft brewers. We acquired a minority
stake in Oedipus, an Amsterdam based craft
brewery, and a minority stake in Paris-based
craft brewer, Gallia, in France.
In 2019 we further invested in our Star Pubs
Bars business in the UK to refurbish nearly
150 of our pubs, enhancing the customer
experience, generating better returns for licencees
and ensuring sustainable growth for each pub.
With our pub estate in the UK of around 2,500
pubs we outperformed the market.
The Blade, our countertop draught system with
eight litre kegs, is now available in 20 of our
European operating companies. It provides
customers and consumers an increasing variety
of brands with draught experience.
We continued to enhance our service to
on-trade customers through digital business
solutions such as HEINEKEN Direct in the UK.
Beerwulf.com goes from strength to strength,
expanding its direct-to-consumer e-commerce
platform to 11 countries and offering a wide
range of beers. It is fast becoming the leading
online beer store in most of these markets.
Zero Zone in
European countries
In Europe we rolled out the Zero Zone.
Promoting our zero alcohol beverages
with more than 40 different brands.
Over 18 million European consumers
have sampled our 0.0 drinks. We have
activated the Zero Zone in more
than 200,000 outlets and reaching
over 100 million consumers with our
advertising campaigns in Europe.
Birra Moretti goes international
With the growing aspiration of Italian
culture, Birra Moretti, our Italian beer brand,
is successfully travelling outside of Italy
across Europe. Consumers are attracted to
the authentic brand with its long heritage
and charming Italian lifestyle. It has
become the fastest growing beer brand
in the UK for the second year straight.
L'AUTEHTICA
Key brands:
Heineken®
Cruzcampo
Birra Moretti
Desperados
Strongbow
Consolidated Net revenue (beia)
beer volume (2018: €10,348m)
(2018: 79.8mhl)
Consolidated beer Operating profit (beia)
volume a of total (2018: €1,452m)
(2018: 34.1%)
Heineken® volume
(2018: 14.5mhl)
Operating profit (beia)
as of total
(2018: 38.1%)1
1 Restated for IAS 37.
