Rarel Vuursteen's love story: "Heineken has magic" Experts all agree: the world beer market is changing fast. Big breweries, increasingly con fronted with stagnating domestic markets, are seeking growth via acquisitions elsewhere in the world. However strange it may sound at first, Heineken owes a large part of its international success to its small home market. After gaining some modest inter national experience in Asia and Africa, Heineken came to the conclu sion in the 1970s that it would be illusory to expect the Dutch beer mar ket to grow further. More than twenty years ago, therefore, the company ini tiated the process which other big breweries have only started recently: expansion abroad. "In fact, the development of both the brand and the company was largely attributable to one man. At a time when everyone in the brewing industry thought that beer was a regional product, Mr Heineken saw that Heineken Beer was a success in other countries, particularly in the United States, and drew the conclusion that 'beer can travel'. The drive to make the company truly international was based on the vision of Mr. Alfred Heineken. With his vision and his charisma, he is the per sonification of our company's success. But those are inborn characteristics of truly great entrepreneurs. Look at businessmen like Dreesmann, Ford, Philips, etc. The ability to communi cate your vision to other people is based on charisma, and charisma breeds success." He has meanwhile been in the chairman's seat on the Executive Board for two years but sitting still is a thing he hates. And the dynamism of the Chairman is reflected in the company itself. Since he took over the chairman's gavel, twelve acquisitions or joint venture agreements have heen launched by Heineken. An interview with Rarel Vuursteen. THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN

Jaarverslagen en Personeelsbladen Heineken

World of Heineken | 1995 | | pagina 4