heavy traffic on the highways leading out of the big cities.
For many Canadians the provisions they take with them
for a weekend in the cottage include a case of beer. In
Quebec you can buy beer in one of the government-run
SAQ stores or in the grocery stores. Until recently only
domestic brewed Canadian beer could be sold in Quebec's
supermarkets. Foreign beers were not on sale in supermar
kets because of protectionist measures by the government.
They were only available in the SAQs (Government Liquor
Stores). Those are the state liquor stores and there are
around 250 of them in Quebec. Since the autumn of 1998
that has changed. Heineken Beer was the first major
imported brand to become available on the shelves of the
supermarkets. That decision by the Quebec government
came about partly as a result of Molson's efforts. Philip
Rainville, Director Strategic Planning at Molson, was one of
the people who was closely involved in the negotiations
with the government at the time. "They were rather reluc
tant to admit foreign beers. Their attitude was based on
protectionist considerations. Barriers that they created to
protect the local beer industry."
The decision by the Quebec authorities to allow
Heineken onto the supermarket shelves has had an enor
mous impact on the visibility of the Heineken brand in
Quebec. Instead of being on sale in 250 SAQs Heineken was
suddenly available in some 9,000 grocery stores thanks to
the wide distribution network of Molson. The marketing
strategy for Heineken in Quebec has changed dramatically.
Brand manager Heineken in Quebec, Yves Turcotte: "We are
placing a lot of emphasis in 1999 on activities in the off
trade, particularly on activities to boost the brand's visibili
ty. It was a strange situation: the shelves in the supermar
kets were filled with beers from the two major breweries
and the microbrews. Though that latter category had a
market share of 5%, it took up 25% of the total shelf space.
So the shelves were already over-full. We therefore introdu
ced the Heineken racks: special display racks for the six-
packs and the 65 cl bottle. Those racks created new space
and generated sales". And this is reflected in the figures.
Whereas in the past Heineken in Quebec sold 10,000 hi a
year, sales this year have climbed to 50,000 hi per year and,
says Yves Turcotte, the end is not yet in sight. "For the time
being we will still concentrate on the off trade, but two
years from now we will again start focusing more on the on
premise. We will then be devoting a lot of attention to POS
materials for consumers. We have deliberately decided not
to plan many promotions in the bars this year, instead our
focus will be in the new retail channel".
Meanwhile Heineken in Quebec is also active on a
modest scale in the area of sponsoring. During the men's
and women's Tennis Championships which are held each
year alternately in Montreal and Toronto Heineken is the
Official Beer. In addition a music event is sometimes spon
sored. But in this case, too, Heineken Canada is selective,
as many music events are sponsored by Molson and the
character of the remaining events must always be in line
with that of the Heineken brand.
lean Marc Ritchie, on premise kev account manager for Molson
in Montreal, shows the P0S material that was developed for a
promotion focusing on the US Open, the Grand Slam tennis
tournament that is sponsored by Heineken.
ALC0P0PS
The Quebec beer market is very much Europe-oriented,
explains Franco Di Clemente, Market Analyst Manager of
Molson in Montreal. The consumption of alcoholic bevera
ges is therefore different than in other regions. "Wine is
more popujar in Quebec than in other provinces. The
Molson Canadian brand is tremendously popular all over
Canada, except in Quebec. Here they drink Molson Dry.
Consumption per capita is 65 to 70 litres in Canada. In
Quebec that consumption is slightly higher."
One thing that the Quebec beer market has in common
with the rest of Canada is the segmentation of the market.
There are three segments: the discount, the premium and
the super-premium segment. The discount segment comp
rises the low cost beers. In recent years this segment has
grown strongly at the expense of the premium segment.
Standard beers like Molson Dry and Molson Canadian
belong in what the Canadians call the premium beer seg
ment. And then there is the super-premium segment, which
consists of the microbrews, but also the imported beers like
Heineken. And, for just over a year, that segment has also
included the alcopops, lemonade drinks to which alcohol
has been added. Alcopops have become enormously popu
lar in Canada. Franco Di Clemente has a feeling that the
alcopops will ultimately disappear from the market again.
"In the next few years there will be more and more new
brands and I expect that eventually the consumer will lose
interest in them. That could have a positive effect for
Heineken sales, as research has shown that these consu
mers fit in well with the Heineken brand".
The constant growth of Heineken is having a substan
tial impact on the entire beer industry. For example, not
only the microbrews and other imported beers are being
affected by the growth of Heineken, but also the premium
beers. For Molson the shift from premium to super-premi
um is a trend that they had already identified several years
ago. That was one of the reasons why they wanted to
