Successful action against
green litter on Curasao
New Heineken office in
Hong Kong operational
A few hours after the
final work had been done
on the fittings and furnish
ings of the new Heineken
Hong Rong Export Office,
Karei Vuursteen, chairman
of the Executive Board of
Heineken, performed the
official opening ceremony.
He was accompanied by
Executive Board member
Thony Ruys, Export
Director Frans van der
Minne and Regional Export
Director Jack van Herpen.
"Thanks to the great
support from many people
we were able to get the job
finished just in time for the
Chinese New Year. That is
an excellent start for our
expanding operations in
Amstel Beer was an un
known brand in Vietnam
until 1991. In that year
small volumes were ship
ped to Vietnam to test
consumer interest.
Heineken Beer was at that
China in the Year of the
Dog", said Export Manager
Eric Nelissen, who is in
charge of the Hong Kong
office.
The office, located on
the 27th floor of a skyscrap
er block 011 Times Square,
overlooks the famous
Happy Valley racetrack.
Personnel have been
recruited and with effect
from 8 April this year they
will concentrate on exports
to Greater China, i.e. llong
Kong, Mainland China and
Taiwan.
moment the favourite beer
of Vietnamese consumers
and the impact of Amstel
was not high.
Figures at the end of
1992 showed that Amstel
was slowly but surely
The Antillian island of
Curasao is known as the
Green Island. Not so much
because of its natural
beauty, but more because
of the many green
Heineken bottles littered
around.
In the middle of last
year the Heineken Trading
export office in Curasao,
together with local agent
Mensing Co., started a
trial clean-up operation to
help make Curasao tidier.
We reported on this in the
November 1995 issue of
The World of Heineken.
Fleineken Trading and
Mensing Co. shared the
costs of purchasing and
operating a small truck
which drives along fixed
routes across the island
gaining ground in Ho Chi
Minh City and Hanoi,
thanks to the consistent
work done to boost
acceptance of the brand,
for example via consumer
promotions in discos.
and picks up bottles which
have been thoughtlessly
thrown away.
llco Schuringa, former
manager of Heineken
Trading and now working
for Heineken in Papua New
Guinea, helped to initiate
the clean-up operation. He
was satisfied with the
results of the initiative and
wanted to continue the
trial. "Simply throwing
bottles away is of course a
problem of mentality, but
our aim with this initiative
is to show our good will
towards the local commu
nity and contribute towards
a cleaner and tidier
Curasao."
Painted rickshaws are also
one of the promotional
activities. The men who
pull the rickshaw are
dressed in the Amstel
colours as well (see photo).
But local culture has
also done its bit to bring
growing success for
Amstel. Consumers bought
the red cartons of Amstel
Beer as a Lunar New Year
gift. Red is the lucky colour
for the new year.
