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Seasonal
varieties of
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BUSINESS
Hops
AMO
Glory
Newcastle Brown Ale,
challenging the growing
craft beer segment in
the US
tremendous resources into training. We
are also building excitement about why
beer matters and providing education
at all levels throughout the industry with
our 'Passion 4 Beer' programme. Our
strategy is starting to pay off. In 2011,
we added more than 2,000 new 'taps'
in on-premise national accounts and
Heineken® and Dos Equis draught sales
increased by seven per cent and 27 per
cent respectively. In 2012, we will be
increasing our investment in this channel
by more than 50 per cent.
And the off-trade?
The premium segment is still under-
represented in large chains like Wal-Mart
and Kruger, and so far, no clear category-
management leader has stepped in to
fill this void. We believe HEINEKEN is
uniquely qualified to take on this role
in the US. We provide retailers with
objective and compelling research,
and shopper insights that explain to
them what they can do to profit in the
premium segment. We have built a
team of 20 employees dedicated solely
to category management and we've
increased our investment in consumer
market intelligence by 20 per cent,
through our own dedicated shopper
knowledge and propriety retail insights.
The US consumer base is evolving.
How are you engaging these
new consumers?
Moving forward, we have a huge
opportunity with Ethnic Millennial
consumers of legal drinking age. This
is the largest and fastest growing
demographic in the US, and the fastest
growing beer segment among that group
is the premium segment. In fact, we
anticipate around 70 per cent of beer
growth to come from the multicultural
demographic over the next 10 years.
Our portfolio gives us the breadth and
depth that is relevant in tomorrow's
beer market. Heineken® currently
rates highly among Hispanic and
African American consumers, with 35
per cent and 15 per cent of the market,
respectively. Fifty per cent of Dos Equis
consumers and eighty per cent of Tecate
consumers, respectively, are Hispanic.
We are increasing our investment
in marketing towards Hispanic and
African American consumers, including
increased advertising and an emphasis
on programmes specifically focused on
these groups.
What is brewing in HEINEKEN's
innovation pipeline in the US?
Innovation represents a major growth
opportunity for our business. We recently
created an innovation department
primarily focused on gathering consumer
insights to leverage the creation of
quality products our consumers love. In
the past year alone, we've introduced
seven new beverages to our portfolio -
more than any other time in our history.
Recent product innovations that we
are particularly proud of include the
four Newcastle Limited Editions, Amstel
Wheat, the Beers of Mexico 12-pk variety
pack and coming soon, Indio, a Mexican
dark beer. K
World of HEINEKEN Quarter 2 2012
