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Heineken Aims To Be Starbucks Of Beer

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Friday, March 16, 2007 11:45 AM

Heineken, Europe's largest brewery, intends to take beer branding to a new dimension by creating a chain of Heineken bars worldwide. The first recently opened at Hong Kong's international airport. It sells other beers as well as wine and spirits, but only Heineken-owned brands are available on tap. TV screens show Heineken ads and sports events sponsored by the company.

Erik van de Ven, Heineken's manager for duty-free and travel retail, says the brewer wants to be to beer what Starbucks is to coffee. The U.K. long had a tradition of brewer-owned pubs ,until the government ordered them to sell off large portions of pub estates in 1989. Heineken is taking a different approach--it won't own the bars, but rather design establishments that are run by airport food-and-beverage operators with whom it contracts.

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