THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN
then placed under Heineken Holding. Control was essential to
turn his creativity and visionary ideas, which were well ahead
of their time, into action. Another significant factor was that
every bottle bore his name. "With my name, I couldn't carry on
working in a subordinate role. I owed it to my family to be
more than that."
As Chairman of the Executive Board (1971-1989) he built up
Heineken by pursuing a consistent long-term policy, giving
precedence to securing a strong market position over short-term
profit. Financial soundness was paramount. "I think in terms of
generations - 25 or 50 years ahead. That requires a very different
approach to that of a General Manager who has to think no more
than five years ahead. I'm under no pressure to make sure that
the profits are up by so much per year over the next five years.
What's important is that the growth is stable." Alfred Heineken
guarded his controlling interest tenaciously. He refused to
undertake share issues which might dilute the family's interest,
but they were not needed anyway, because the success of the
company's policy meant that the brewery has always had enough
cash to finance acquisitions itself.
