JULY 2003
The inhabitants of the sun-drenched Canary Islands welcomed
Heineken Beer with open arms long ago. Exports of Heineken
Beer to the islands of Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Lanzarote and
Fuerteventura are so extensive that the Canary Islands are one
of the top export markets for Heineken.
More than eighty per cent of all Heineken is supplied to sizeable
customers such as supermarkets, wholesalers and the cash carry
outlets. Many on-premise outlets (including the outlets that are
only visited by the local population) buy their products and also
their supplies of Heineken from such a cash carry.
Throughout the year the Canary Islands are packed with tourists,
in search of sun and sea. Lots of tourists means a great many
on-premise establishments and you might think that the export
office of Heineken Canarias can benefit to the full from all those
holidaymakers. The reality is different. Naturally, tourists do
contribute towards extra sales, but due to the fact that Heineken
Canarias focused right from the very start on the local consumer,
the share that the sun-seekers contribute to the sales of Heineken
Beer is a lot smaller than you would expect.
A year ago Heineken Canarias placed the distribution of Heineken
Beer for the on-premise trade in the hands of 'autonomos'. These
are small, independent operators who drive their trucks, painted
in Heineken green livery, to the on-premise outlets where they
use a sort of door-to-door hawking system to try to win over new
customers. Each 'autonomo' has his own region and works together
closely with the sales representatives of Heineken Canarias. Day
in, day out these Heineken trucks help to colour the Canary
Islands green.
