Toronto, capital of Ontario.
15
have been removed, tremendous
business opportunities are being
created in the Ontario beer industry.
Peter Flach is the president of
Brewers Retail and in a recent inter
view with The World of Heineken he
said: "It is a real plus to have one of
the best selling brands in the world in
our beer stores. Heineken is a wel
come addition to the product mix we
carry. It strengthens our position as
the preferred retailer of beer in
Ontario." He says brewers from
Mexico, Japan, Australia and other
parts of the world are seeing the
tremendous opportunity to gain
access to the entire beer market in
the province. Noting the low-cost
entry into the huge distribution sys
tem, he says: "If you list with Brewers
Retail, you have instant and complete
coverage."
During his presidency, Mr. Flach
has devoted much of his energies to
improving the company's retail activi
ties. Sixty-eight of the beer stores
have a self-serve format which allows
a brewer to showcase its products.
Jerry Biggar says that a company like
Heineken will earn premium space in
the store 'by being successful.' In
some of the older, conventional
stores, the beer is kept at the rear of
the store in a huge refrigerated
'carton box' which is unseen by the
customer. A beer order is called into a
microphone system by an employee
and the product is sent down a roller
to the waiting customer by another
employee. The new self-serve stores
of the 1990s are attractive and colour
ful retail centres with an appealing
shopping atmosphere that also sell
such beer-related products as steins,
insulated cooler bags, t-shirts and
other beer-branded merchandise.
The newest self-serve beer store to
open this year was in Lindsay,
Ontario, population 15,000. The store
has an operating capacity of 22,000
colourful and decorative cases of beer
in hundreds of different package
sizes. The wide range of domestic and
imported products are displayed on
floor pallets, shelving units, and on
floor-to-ceiling flow racks.
The Heineken container comes in
the familiar 55 cl bottle and is sold in
six-packs and 24-bottle cases. Each
Heineken beer bottle, like every bottle
of beer sold in The Beer Store and
licensed premises, comes with a 10
cent refundable deposit which is
charged at time of purchase. Ontarion
beer drinkers take part in one of the
world's most efficient recycling sys
tems by returning over 99% of all
beer bottles for refund. Heineken
drinkers in Ontario can take pride in
knowing they are not polluting the
environment because Brewers Retail
has publicly committed itself to reco
ver, for reuse or recycling, 100% of its
packaging - and that includes card
board cases and bottle caps!
It has been said that in many
human endeavours, such as sports,
there has to be a loser. It is nice to
report a story in which there are only
winners. All signs point to good times
ahead for Brewers Retail, Ontario's
beer consumers and Heineken.
WORLD
HEINEKEN
