outlets recently.
This expansion of the range will
not be accompanied by a large-scale
introductory campaign. Just as in
many other markets, the Irish stout is
being launched on the market in
Poland without a great deal of fuss.
Expectations are that the product will
win over a solid, loyal group of enthu
siasts.
Zywiec
Although Warsaw is an important
market for Heineken, Marc Elenbaas
does not want to risk putting all his
eggs in one basket. For the North
West of Poland Heineken Polska has
for the past year been using the distri
butive strength of the Zywiec brew
ery, in which Heineken has a 24.9%
stake. There are also plans to extend
the cooperation with Zywiec to cover
other regions, especially in the South
of Poland, where per capita consump
tion is the highest. Heineken Polska is
also active in retail outlets, but Marc
Elenbaas emphasises that a lot of
energy is needed to get Heineken on
retail shelves. Though a regional con
centration of supermarkets has in
deed occurred in recent times, there
are no nation-wide supermarket
chains in Poland. This means that
many different accounts have to be
visited by Heineken Polska to build up
a good distribution.
Improved
Two years ago the political situ
ation in Poland was also less stable
than it is now. Drastic measures
which might have been introduced by
the government overnight sometimes
hung above industry like a sword of
Damocles. In the meantime, explains
Marc Elenbaas, the situation has
improved a little and industry is being
given just enough time to bring its
operations into line with the changes 13
in legislation.
Inflation still forms a problem
(though less than before). Three
years ago inflation was still running
at 40% per annum, in 1993 it stood at
33%, whilst the official inflation rate
for 1994 was about 30%. One hopeful
sign is that the Polish economy is
growing by some 4 to 5% per year.
But Marc Elenbaas admits that the
target group for Heineken is growing
less strongly than he had expected:
"Success for Heineken in Poland con
tinues to be a long-term goal. You
have to invest a lot and have patience
and Heineken has frequently proved
in the past that it can be patient. In
Warsaw we have now got where we
wanted to be. The number of outlets
is growing, the customer base is
growing." He would prefer to see that
growth taking place at a slightly faster
speed, but that would require an eco
nomic revival. And even Marc
Elenbaas cannot bring any influence
to bear on that.
THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN
