important thing. Make sure the balance sheet is healthy. Don't
gamble and don't over-extend yourself."
When he retired as Chairman of the Executive Board in 1989, he
still had his finger on the pulse of the international beer market:
"I foresee plenty more growth potential for Heineken." His
successors have realised that potential, building on the
foundations which Alfred Heineken had laid.
After 1989, Alfred Heineken did not turn his back on the firm.
"The brewery is like a child to me: you never let go," he said on
stepping down from the Executive Board. As a born entrepreneur,
h? continued to be closely involved in the brewery's activities and
became Chairman and Delegate Member of the Supervisory
Board of Heineken N.V. In his new role he was able to derive great
satisfaction from observing the brewery's continuing growth.
Alfred Heineken was known at home and abroad as a shrewd but
fair businessman. In an interview some years before his death, he
said: "I don't think we were put on this world to do one another
down. It's distasteful and unnecessary."
The first period of rapid growth in the company's history came
in the 1970s and 1980s, when the Executive Board, chaired by
Alfred Heineken, decided to focus growth on Europe. Breweries
were acquired in quick succession, adding new branches to the
Heineken tree in Italy, France, Greece, Ireland and Spain. How
fast did Heineken grow? The figures speak for themselves:
1964 1989
Hectolitres: Hectolitres:
5.2 million 49.5 million
Net profit: Net profit:
3,335,573.30 147,704,090.00
