Amstel River Café in
Budapest city centre
Bik Bart de Jonge
General Manager
of Amstel Brewery
Hungary, fills the
first glass of Amstel.
In February 1995 the Amstel River
Café in Budapest opened its doors
for the first time. The café is the
initiative of two businessmen who
wanted to design their outlet with an
Amstel atmosphere. They contacted
Amstel in Hungary which in turn call
ed in the assistance of Amsterdam
head office.
worked out in greater detail and an
accurate description was drawn up of
the requirements that the café would
have to meet.
If the café in Budapest city centre
is a success, Amstel intends in future
to open an Amstel River Café in the
capitals of the European countries in
which Amstel is on the market.
Budapest set the ball rolling but, if the Amstel
Brand Team get their way, there will be even
more of them in a number of European capitals in
the years ahead: the Amstel River Cafés.
The aim of Amstel cafés is to
create a clear link between the image
of the Amstel brand and the origin of
the brand, i.e. Amsterdam and its
Amstel River.
The initiative of the two business
men in Hungary considerably speed
ed up the realisation of the plans. In
close cooperation between Amstel
Hungary, the head office and
Heineken Nederland the concept was
However, much will depend on pri
vate initiative. "It is not our intention
to start running cafés ourselves, but
we can provide support to the
businessmen involved. Much of the
success of such a café will therefore
depend on the enthusiasm and pro
fessionalism of its owners", says Gary
den Hertog, International Brand
Manager Amstel.
WORLD
HEINEKEN
