üZeineken builds brand
and segment in Brazil
The date is June 1990.
Brazilians have had a
long wait but at last the
moment has arrived:
the launch of Heineken
beer in Rio de Janeiro.
Heineken gets off to a
flying start and everyo
ne is elated. Eighteen
months later the enthu
siasm has been dampe
ned, as the recession
has bitten deep; by
October 1991 inflation is
running at 22.6% a
month.
But first we need to take a trip
even further back in time. For a
lot had to happen before the
introduction of Heineken in Brazil. It
all started in 1980 when the Coca Cola
bottler in Belo Horizonte decided to
build a brewery. He wanted to break
through the stranglehold of the two
existing breweries so as to protect the
sales of his own soft drinks. The bre
weries - which also have soil drinks in
their range - applied a policy of 'no
soft drinks, no beer' during the sum
mer months. Since there is a shortage
of beer in Brazil every summer, the
customers were forced to buy soft
drinks from the breweries.
The Coca Cola bottler realised that
he needed a beer brand in his range to
halt the decline in Coca Cola's market
share. Imported beers were not per
mitted at that moment and so the bot
tler decided on the bold step of build
ing a brewery and developing the
Kaiser beer brand. Coca Cola head
quarters in Atlanta, USA, gave the
plan the green light but demanded
that an international brewery should
also participate in the project.
Heineken welcomed the idea of a
participation in Kaiser, as the
outstanding distribution network for
Coca Cola would in due course prove
very valuable for a possible introduc
tion of Heineken beer.
Other Coca Cola bottlers in Brazil
followed the example of Belo
Horizonte and six breweries were
built at record speed. In the space of
seven years Kaiser has gained a solid
position on the Brazilian beer market
with a market share of some 12%.
Shortage
In June 1990 Heineken beer
(brewed in the Kaiser brewery in Rio)
was cautiously introduced in Rio de
Janeiro, followed six months later by
Sao Paulo. Paul Nitschmann, who has
worked in Brazil for the past year as
marketing manager of Heineken do
Brasil, says: 'In the summer of 1991
(January and February, ed.) there was
again a shortage of beer. At that time
the Brazilian economy was prosper
ing. People had money to spend and
so they showed a massive preference
for Heineken. Everyone was enthu
siastic and convinced that Heineken
would become an enormous success
in Brazil. After the summer the short
age of beer disappeared and at the
Marketing manager Paul Nitschmann
THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN
