Femsa
Imports of Heineken beer in
Mexico do not run via the channels
that Heineken normally uses.
Heineken in fact works closely to
gether with Mexico's biggest brewer
ies group. The importer is Cervezas
Mundiales S.A., a company which is
headed by Luis Madraz and which is
partially owned by Heineken.
Femsa, a holding company with
very big interests in all sorts of sectors
in Mexico, has a majority stake in
Cervezas Mundiales. In November
last year Femsa made front-page news
with its takeover of Bancomer,
Mexico's second biggest bank.
Femsa also comprises two brew
ing groups: the 102-year-old
Cuauhtemoc, and Moctezuma. These
breweries were merged in 1983 and
brought under Femsa's umbrella, but
they continued to retain their own
identity and operate under their own
names.
Cuauhtemoc and Moctezuma
together hold one-half of the Mexican
beer market with brands such as
Tecate, Superior, Carta Blanca, Lager
XX and Bohemia. Both brewing
groups together have some 24,000
employees on their payroll. That
seems a lot but it should be borne in
mind that the breweries have their
own factories for the production of
crown corks, bottles, labels, card
board boxes, etc. The figure also
includes the personnel of more than
400 Oxxo stores. Oxxo is a chain of
small supermarkets, also referred to
as convenience stores.
Cervezas Mundiales works to
gether with the breweries in the area
of distribution. In Mexico's 23 prov
inces there are 13 sales managers
active for Heineken, twelve of whom
are on the payroll of the two brewe
ries. For Mexico City Cervezas
Mundiales has its own sales manager,
Sergio Perez Cortes.
Sergio is in charge of three sales
reps, maintains contacts with the
supermarkets and coordinates the dis
tribution to the on-premise outlets.
Supermarkets and the like are sup
plied via the distribution organisation
of the Cuauhtemoc brewery. Sergio
works in close cooperation with
Eduardo Cienfuegos, who has been
developing the sales promotion activi
ties for the past year.
Full bodied
Sales promotion plays an essential
role in the further development of
Heineken in Mexico, as this is the best
way of ensuring that the consumer
can get to know Heineken beer.
Air pollution in Mexico
City is bad. People head
out of town at week
ends.
existent, mainly because of the high
import duties. In 1988 Mexico joined
GATT and consumers were once
again exposed to imported beers and
other products.
American beers are popular above
all in the north of Mexico. In the
remainder of the country imported
beers are only moderately represen
ted. The Mexican is hesitant about
changing over to imported beers. Why
should he? In his view his 'own' beer
is in fact the best.
Heineken beer was launched on
the market in October 1989 in 33 cl
bottles and cans. In 1990 and 1991 the
foundations were laid for the future.
'Last year we were already selling
70% more than in 1990. You can say
that we performed well, but we're not
there yet. Personally I see 1992 as the
crucial year for Heineken in Mexico.
For me it's 'do or die'. We simply have
to achieve 75% growth this year! I
know that it can be done, but it will
demand a lot of creativity from all
employees', says Martin Hutchinson,
marketing manager with Cervezas
Mundiales, the Heineken importer in
Mexico. The recent introduction in
supermarkets of Heineken beer in the
25 cl bottle is helping the growth in
sales. Thanks to this bottle size
Sales Manager for Mexico City: Sergio
Perez Cortes.
Heineken will be better placed price-
wise compared to the competition.
Hutchinson is concentrating his
attention this year on seven major
Mexican cities: Mexico City,
Monterrey, Guadalajara, Acapulco,
Cancun, Tijuana and Hermosillo.
These seven cities should represent
80% of the total market for Heineken
by the end of this year.
