SUSTAIN ABILITY
The National Geographic Megafactories episode
was a unique opportunity to highlight Heineken's
passion for quality and sustainability
and energy. In Zoeterwoude, Heineken's own power
plant supplying electricity and steam has been added,
and the brewery has its own water purification plant.
The recently inaugurated Heineken port just 15
kilometres from the Zoeterwoude brewery allows
beer to be shipped, rather than transported by road,
to the Rotterdam harbour for export. Now, 95% of all
beer brewed in Zouterwoude is transported by water
rather than road, with significant C02 reductions.
For National Geographic, the challenge was to explain
how Heineken stays on top by brewing the best beer,
getting it out to the customer fast and constantly
expanding the market.
The Zoeterwoude brewery supplies around 80%
of Heineken® consumed in the US, approximately
seven million hectolitres a year. That helped qualify
Heineken to be part of the 'Megafactories' series,
which features large-scale engineering. It is only
the second time that an alcoholic beverage has
featured in the 'Megafactories series'. For Emre,
filming Heineken was a "natural choice. No beer
reaches more people around the world than
Heineken®," he says.
fact that, though the brewing process itself may
not have changed a lot over the centuries, the
technology involved has.
PASSION
"The entire 'Megafactories' series is about
getting behind the scenes of a well-known brand
and discovering the real details about how it is
made. There is drama in that. At its core, this is a
documentary about people who are passionate
about what they do. These are people who make
something from their passion. In big teams and
corporations, it is sometimes hard to remember
that there are people in their ranks who really care
- a lot - about what they do," says Emre.
The film-makers followed the brewing process to
Albert Maltings near Antwerp, Belgium to track
down the barley that gives Heineken® its unique
flavour. In addition, it reveals that Heineken uses
its own yeast, unofficially known as the 'happy
yeast', which has remained a guarded secret since
1886 and has been replicated for centuries so that
the world's most global beer brand approaches
its 150th birthday unscathed by the passage of
time. And, as the programme points out, Heineken
continues to invest in the science of brewing,
constantly assessing ways to improve the process
through a combination of art and science.
SUSTAINABLE
The documentary also spotlights how Heineken
has incorporated sustainability in all of its business
processes, particularly in the efficient use of water
Says Emre: "I think CEO Jean-Frangois van Boxmeer
put it in a great way on camera. He said that
businesses face the same problems whether they are
a small family-run company or an international brand.
The nature of the challenge doesn't change, the only
difference is the scale.
"When we film 'Megafactories', we know that people
can't watch machines for an hour on television. We
want to show the individuals involved; the people
who have a vested interest in the company, who have
something at stake, and who really care."
CEO Jean-Frangois van Boxmeer says the film-makers
succeeded in capturing the passion and commitment
of the people behind the Heineken name. "It provides
unique insights into Heineken® beer, the brand and
company, and shows the great people behind every
glass and bottle of Heineken® beer. It really illustrates
that quality, entrepreneurship and passion are at the
centre of everything we do."
The documentary concludes, "It's a long journey from
the water tap in Zoeterwoude to the rest of the world,
and a long line of people who see the beer through
its journey to the consumer." Now, through National
Geographic, those consumers will be better informed
about the story behind the 200 bottles of Heineken®
that are opened every second of every day!
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