"Heineken is by no means the only
brand of beer sold on all those cruise
ships. There are many American
domestic beers and a few inter
national beers. The reason why
Heineken is doing so well on cruise
ships is because in most of the bars we
have a draught dispenser installation
for Heineken and Amstel Light." On
board the vessels of Royal Caribbean
Cruises, the world's second biggest
cruise company, Heineken is the only
beer with draught dispensers. "We
were the pioneers and we are now
reaping the fruits." Incidentally, the
consumption of Heineken is not
attributable solely to the passengers.
The crew (a fair-sized cruise liner can
easily have as many as 700 personnel
- from captain, first mate and sailors
to waiters, musicians and swimming
pool attendants) certainly helps boost
Heineken sales. For the dispenser
installations on board cruise ships
Heineken has developed a special
draught beer programme. "One of the
stipulations in that programme is that
two Duty Free wholesalers in America,
one on the west coast and one on
the east coast, have been specifically
contracted to make deliveries of
draught beer. When the ships dock in
Europe, they are supplied by Kopeke,
Holland's leading ship chandler.
This firm makes sure that the ships,
wherever they may be in Europe, are
supplied with kegs of Heineken and
it also arranges for the empty kegs to
be transported back to the Netherlands.
In addition, the cruise companies
receive videotapes from Heineken
Duty Free giving information about the
brewing process and about the right
way to dispense beer. A business in
Miami takes care of the cleaning and
preventive maintenance of the dispenser
installations."
AIR TRAVEL
Being present on board the aircraft
of the world's major airlines is princi
pally aimed at strengthening the
brand image. Mr Kruijt has clear views
on this: "We have felt for years that
airlines are important for Heineken
Duty Free. On the other hand, though,
the profit margins are very low. And
yet we see a place for Heineken on
board aircraft. We now regard air
travel as a marketing tool. Having
your product in the range supplied by
the top airlines means leaving your
visiting card. Partner-ships are very
important in the air travel business.
Via the joint purchasing project of
KLM, we have already booked many
successes with KLM's partner airlines.
The first success was with Northwest
EUROPE
Six years ago the European Parliament
decided that with effect from 1 July 1999
the duty free purchase of goods within
European Union member states would
be abolished. Doesn't this decision
hang like a Sword of Damocles above
the heads of the businesses operating
in this sector? René Kruijt: "That deci
sion was taken in 1992 and was based
on the assumption that taxation sys
tems in Europe would be completely
harmonised by 1999. Lobbying activities
by the dury free industry were started
to try and maintain duty free sales and
in recent times there has been discus
sion about whether duty free ought
perhaps to be kept in place for a couple
of years yet. The preservation of duty
free sales is enormously important for
the entire sector. A great many jobs are
involved and for countries like Ireland,
the UK and the Scandinavian countries
duty free is the only weapon to fight
off parallel imports. It is now clear
that, also after 1 July 1999, duty free
activities will also be maintained
within the EU in the areas of on-board
consumption, military and diplomatic
supplies and ships supplies. The deci
sion therefore mainly relates to the
abolition of duty free sales at, say,
airports. That measure will not have
any far-reaching consequences for
Heineken. Sales in duty free shops play
too small a role."
Airlines, where we are exclusively
represented on international flights.
After that, we successfully placed the
product with Kenya Airways, KLM UK,
Air Excel, Braathens and - by the
time this issue of The World of
Heineken is published - also with
Alitalia and Sun Airways in South
Africa." Heineken also has exclu
sive supply contracts with charter
operators such as Martinair, Transavia
and Air Holland.
