Amsterdam, 19 October 2006 - Heineken International announced today an extension of its successful DraughtKeg and BeerTender® technology, which will open up new markets for the BeerTender system.
The latest innovation is a new BeerTender, which is now compatible with the 5-liter selfpressurized and recyclable DraughtKeg. To date, the home draught beer system BeerTender has been restricted to those markets, which have the infrastructure for returnable kegs (The Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria). The introduction of BeerTender in France today represents the first market with a non-returnable keg system and builds upon the already successful 5-liter DraughtKeg business.
The new system offers the consumer a premium quality draught beer for all drinking occasions, both by using the DraughtKeg as a stand-alone portable draught beer system and in the BeerTender appliance for regular use at home. The BeerTender with the dual-purpose Heineken® DraughtKeg was first launched in France today and Heineken expects further rollout in other countries in due course.
"Our innovations are key drivers for growth, especially for the Heineken brand", comments Peter van Campen, Director Group Commerce of Heineken International. "By offering BeerTender with a recyclable keg instead of a returnable keg, we now can accelerate volume growth in those markets which were previously closed for BeerTender".
Heineken N.V. reported on 6 September 2006 that in the first half of 2006, beer volume generated by recent innovative beer systems such as DraughtKeg, BeerTender and the David draught system grew more than 30%, albeit from a low volume base.
In April 2005, Heineken introduced DraughtKeg, which is now available in 45 countries. The filling-line capacity is currently being expanded to meet the high consumer demand for DraughtKeg worldwide.
Press enquiries
Véronique Schyns
Tel: +31 (0)6 20300139
Editorial information
Heineken International
The Heineken company is the most international brewer in the world. The Heineken brand is sold in almost every country in the world and the company owns over 115 breweries in more than 65 countries. With a Group beer volume of 119 million hectolitres Heineken ranks fourth in the world beer market by volume. Heineken strives for an excellent sustainable financial performance through marketing a portfolio of strong local and international brands with the emphasis on the Heineken brand, through a carefully selected combination of broad and segment leadership positions and through a continuous focus on cost control. Additional information is available on http://www.heinekeninternational.com. Additional information is available on www.heinekeninternational.com/press.
About DraughtKeg
Heineken introduced DraughtKeg in April 2005 in France. The DraughtKeg is an integrated selfpressurized, recyclable and portable system with mini tap components in a lightweight steel keg. For more information about DraughtKeg, please visit www.Heineken.com/draughtkeg
About BeerTender
In February 2004, Heineken and Groupe SEB created a draught beer system for regular use at home, the BeerTender® system. BeerTender was first introduced in The Netherlands. The system consists of an appliance and a keg and delivers high quality draught beer for regular home consumption. For more information about BeerTender, please visit www.beertender.com
Please click the link below to view the PDF-version of the release:
