Brewery succeeded in keeping its
head above water, one of the reasons
being the good quality of its products.
Raw materials became scarcer, the
quality of the beer deteriorated. In the
'hunger winter' of 1944-1945 the
installations of the Amstel Brewery
served as a central soup kitchen,
somehow managing to prepare what
little food there was for the local
population.
In the second half of the 1940s
Amstel quickly put the dismal war
time experiences behind it and start
ed on a huge expansion of both its
foreign and domestic interests. Beer
consumption in Holland had declined
alarmingly during the war years. It
took many years before the Dutch
breweries succeeded in convincing
consumers that the quality of the beer
was excellent again. Both Amstel and
Heineken, Holland's two biggest
breweries at that time, devoted a
great deal of attention and energy to
restoring consumer confidence.
Interests
As regards its foreign interests
Amstel did not concentrate solely on
exports. In September 1954 a start
was made on the construction of an
Amstel brewery in Surinam, sales offi
ces were opened in the United States
and Belgium and a brewery associa
ted with Amstel was opened in
Jordan. These were followed in 1960
by the Amstel Brouwerij on Curagao
and in 1962 by the Almaza brewery in
Lebanon. In that same year Amstel
concluded a technical cooperation
agreement with the American FalstafT
brewery. This cooperation was later
expanded to include a consortium of
five breweries, in which not only the
operations in Curasao and Lebanon
were represented but also breweries
from England, Canada and Mexico.
Despite the steady increase in
interests in breweries throughout the
world, exports from Holland showed a
continuing upward line. In the early
1960s more than twenty per cent of
the Dutch brewery's output was ship
ped to 120 countries throughout the
world.
With the construction of breweries
in Puerto Rico and Greece and a
licensing contract for Amstel in Iraq,
the year 1963 was one of great
geographical expansion for the
Amstel Brewery. But the domestic
market was not forgotten. One year
later construction started on a second
Amstel brewery in Holland. Amstel
opted for a location in the south of the
country.
In 1968 the next milestone was
reached; Amstel merged with
Heineken. Holland's number one and
number two breweries joined forces
and strengthened their position both
in Holland and elsewhere in the
world.
Impressive
In the year 1994 it is clear to see
that Amstel, also after the merger
with Heineken, has achieved impres
sive growth. Both nationally and
internationally, Amstel has in recent
years captured a strong position in
the beer market with an unbeatable
portfolio: Amstel, Amstel Light,
Amstel Bock beer, Amstel 1870,
Amstel Malt and Amstel Gold. In
recent years Amstel has further
strengthened its position in Europe
with its introduction in Hungary in
1991 and in France in 1993, followed
in 1994 by its launch in Portugal, Italy,
Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Obviously, Amstel's home country
will not allow the Amstel anniversary
to go by unnoticed. Heineken
Nederland has initiated large-scale
plans for consumer campaigns for
Amstel. At the time this issue went to
press, it was still not possible to re
veal any details. But one thing is
clear: Dutch consumers will be able
to join in the celebrations during the
Amstel Anniversary Party.
UiM57E!
MET
THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN
