Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/303900
International Affairs 30 Beverage Dynamics • May/June 2014 www.beveragedynamics.com Heineken Firing On All Cylinders B eer is under attack," declared Nuno Teles, HEINEKEN USA's Chief Marketing Offi cer to an audience of over 1,500 HEINEKEN USA distributors and employees at the company's annual National Distributors Conference, held this past April in Houston. But while Teles and other global HEINEKEN USA executives laid out their thoughts on the beer market in general, including the results of the largest consumer-behavior study the company has ever done, they also outlined their own battle plans. Teles pointed out that the upscale segment of the beer market is up 5%, while mainstream brands are down by 2% and value brands are down by 5%. While Heineken is the strongest brand in the upscale category, he declared, "Everyone wants to be in that market. We need to fi ght for our upscale category." Meanwhile, spirits gained on beer, by almost 1% in 2013, especially during an important drinking occasion: when the New Millennials (consumers aged 21-27) go out, on-premise, at night. "We are taking back the night from spirits," declared Dolf van den Brink, HEINEKEN USA's President and CEO. One of the company's responses: Desperados, a lager blended with tequila barrel-aged beer. "Desperados speaks to the New Millennials. It is inspired by spirits, while it is also an imported beer," said Raul Esquer, Desperado's Brand Manager. First introduced in France in 1995, it has gone on to capture 4% of the beer market in that country. "Desperados has the potential to be the 'Red Bull' of the fl avored-beer market," said Esquer, who pointed out that the fl avored-beer category in general is growing quickly in the U.S., up by 25%. Desperados launched in the Southeastern U.S. in April and is on track to go national in the fi rst months of 2015. HEINEKEN USA is also having good success with another fl avored-beer offering, Amstel Radler. Radler is made with 60% lemon juice and 40% beer. HEINEKEN USA continues to push at the envelope with Strongbow, its hard cider product. "Cider is an exploding category," said Scott Blazek, Senior Vice President of Sales, and Strongbow is one of the brands in it. "Strongbow can reach consumers and occasions that beer can't," said Charles Van Es, Senior Brand Director, Portfolio Brands. "It appeals to both men and women. Half of its new consumers come from outside beer. It can expand the category, and take from wines and spirits." Strongbow is leading with a new fl agship liquid, Strongbow Gold Apple Hard Cider, made with both sweet and tart apples, which is entering markets alongside its extension, Strongbow Honey & Apple Hard Cider. HEINEKEN USA's Newcastle Brown Ale has, despite being a relatively small brand, continued to make a big splash with its "No Bollocks" theme. Its spoof of Superbowl ads – the Superbowl ad it would have made for the big game, if it could have afforded to (ifwemadeit. com) – garnered 11.5 million views online and out-trended the Superbowl itself on Facebook at one point. The British brand also celebrates, not the Fourth of July, but July 3 rd , Independence Eve, as the last day of British rule. Finally, the company's core brand Heineken will spend a record amount on media in 2014, having won more advertising awards on a global level, including 15 Cannes Lions, than any other food & beverage company in 2013. The Heineken brand will be taking over the summer by running not one, but two, new summer marketing programs and introducing their revolutionary new Brew Lock keg technology at select on-premise accounts. — Cheryl Ursin With the recent emergence of a range of hard ciders into the U.S. market, beer producers are tapping into this new trend. HEINEKEN USA is featuring its latest with Strongbow Gold Apple Hard Cider and Strongbow Honey & Apple Hard Cider. HEINEKEN USA is introducing Desperados, a lager blended with tequila barrel-aged beer. The company is also debuting Amstel Radler, which is made with 60% lemon juice and 40% beer. Paulaner HP USA enjoyed solid growth last year, says Coleman. The Paulaner brewery is at peak capacity; new brewery construc- tion, slated for completion in spring 2016, will double capacity. Verschoor at Tenth and Blake sees the import market segmented into three broad areas. "The fi rst is the big mainstream cat- egory, which is where the bulk of the vol- ume is and the big trend is really around Mexican imports at the moment," he says, adding, "I think that is going to broaden to a Latin American-infl uenced space." That expansion would admit opportunities for Tenth and Blake' South American brands Cusquena, Cristal and Aguila. The second segment encompasses superpremium im- ports, says Verschoor, offering the com- pany's Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Pilsner Urquell brands as examples. "The differ- ence between the two is the mainstream category is mainly a share fi ght, but in the superpremium import space most of those brands are growing because it is a grow- ing segment." The third import arena is specialty imports. "I guess you could call them imported craft beers. Consumers are uncertain whether they are crafts or im- ports, which has created a gray area that is interesting." He cites the company's St. Stefanus brand as an example. "It's never going to be a massive opportunity but it is a profi table one." "We consider ourselves as a subset of the craft beer category, so what's happen- ing with us is somewhat similar to what's happening to domestic craft," declares Lanny Hoff, senior vice president, manager of brands at Artisanal Imports, Inc. The Austin, TX-based specialty importer has a portfolio of about 40 brands, craft brews from Britain, Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic, Asia and Brazil. "Right now, the interest is in the spe- cialty imports, not the typical imports," says Jake Jacobson, beer manager at Heritage Wine & Liquor in Centennial, CO. "Belgian styles are seeing the biggest growth for us." POP CULTURES Beers from two regions of the globe are enjoying great popularity among U.S. con- sumers—Latin America, particularly Mex- ico, and Belgium. "Mexican imports are selling great for us, Corona, Dos Equis, Modelo," exclaims >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>