A brief look at the history of Heineken
The Heineken company name stands for many things. It began as a family business; three generations of Heineken, each with their own approach to building the business. It became Europe`s favorite beer brand - successfully exporting to every corner of the world. But above all Heineken is a company - and the company name is our ambassador.
The history of Heineken starts on December 16th 1863. It was Gerard Adriaan Heineken who, in 1864, bought the Amsterdam brewery "The Haystack", which dated from 1592. In doing so, he laid the foundation for the Heineken concern, which was to acquire widespread international fame as time went by.
Within
a few years Gerard Adriaan Heineken succeeded in increasing sales so much that
the brewery in Amsterdam soon became too small. In 1867 construction of a new
brewery began just outside the old city. His legacy was a brewery which had
grown into one of the biggest and most important in the Netherlands.
At the end of the nineteenth century, the competition from other breweries increased.
From the 1950s onwards under the leadership of Alfred Heineken, who was the chairman of the Executive Board of Heineken NV, Heineken expanded to become an International Company. He gave the Heineken label worldwide fame and gave it a unique image. It was Alfred Heineken who came to the conclusion that beer was not a local or regional product but that beer could travel. He laid the basis for the international structure and organization of the Heineken concern.
Thanks to the initiative of the Heineken family and its response to the changes in the world beer market, Heineken has grown to become the world`s most international beer brand.
In the old days deliveries would be made by horse-drawn cart, but nowadays lorries take care of this. Loaded into the huge container ships in the port of Rotterdam, Heineken beer finds its way across the whole world.
The export of Heineken beer took off at an early date. In the period between the two world wars, Heineken was exported to Belgium, France, Britain, West Africa and Indonesia. In 1933 Heineken became the first foreign brewery to export beer to the United States after the prohibition. That turned out to be a great success. But there is more - apart from exporting beer, Heineken also acquired stakes in the local breweries all over the world. It has also built its own breweries. Today, Heineken is sold in around 170 countries in all parts of the world; the company also has ties with 116 productions units in 57 countries.
Heineken has in recent years been drawing attention to the Heineken brand by making increasing use of sponsorship. Heineken has recently sponsored the Rugby World Cup in South Africa, the US Open, the Davis Cup Tennis Tournament, the Heineken Classic Golf Tournament and the Saint Maarten Regatta in the Caribbean. Sports sponsorship is only one of the ways that Heineken can contribute to the lives of their customers. The Heineken brand is also strongly associated with music. They sponsor - The Montreux, Puerto Rico and Umbria Jazz Festivals.