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South Africa
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Quick start
On the ground
Did you know that South Africa:
is the second largest exporter of fruit in the world
has 30,600 km of railway track - 80% of the entire continent's
Population: 43.9 million
rail infrastructure
Land area: 1,219,912 Sq. km
has the largest global reserves of gold (40%)
GDP per capita: €9,570
has 11 official languages, among them Zulu and Xhosa (both
Currency: Rand
African languages), Afrikaans (a language descended from the
Per capita beer consumption: 56 litres per year
Dutch introduced in the 17th century), and English
is home to around 450 different species of bird in the Kruger
National Park alone
THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN
The project team soon found that there was a lot to take into account:
timing, availability of bottles, availability of hops, the kind of labels needed.
Heineken experts from Amsterdam and the three breweries held regular
conference calls to coordinate the project.
Production at all three sites is on track and the first shipment of Amstel has
already arrived in South Africa, says Joop Knuist, Supply Chain and Sourcing
Manager for the Western Europe region. This is a considerable achievement
given the modifications to packaging and filling lines that were necessary in
some cases.
"This is the first time a pan-European project of this kind has been set up
within Heineken," comments Knuist. "It has gone pretty well. We've worked
as flexibly as possible with each other, and that has made things happen."
Heineken's joint-venture partner in South Africa, brandhouse, is also
positive about the transition. It is reinforcing its workforce to ensure that
Amstel gets to the market. "Amstel is a fantastic addition to our premium
brand portfolio. The brand will bring significant scale to our existing beer
business," says brandhouse Managing Director Simon Litherland. "We are
delighted with Heineken's announcement and the developments around
Amstel."
The Amstel being produced in Europe is brewed to the exact recipe and
specifications so favoured by South African consumers. "We are absorbing
all associated costs of production and transportation for importing Amstel
from Europe," adds Litherland. "We don't expect to change the current
pricing strategy of Amstel in South Africa. Consumers are able to buy it at
the same price as before."
