Koch (Heineken Italia): "It is our responsibility to make the category more interesting, more vibrant for the Italian consumers"

Alexander Koch, AD di Heineken Italia, in occasione del 50° anniversario di produzione in Italia di Heineken ha dichiarato:

"Prima di tutto, grazie molte di essere qui con noi oggi per celebrare questo importante traguardo dei 50 anni di produzione in Italia. Ora, io lavoro per Heineken dal 1997, perciò vado per i 27 anni. Tutta la mia vita professionale, metà della mia vita personale in Heineken.L'Italia è il mio quinto Paese da quando è iniziata la mia carriera nei Paesi Bassi, da dove provengo, poi mi sono spostato in Rwanda, Grecia, Costa D'Avorio e gli ultimi sei anni sono stato in Vietnam dirigendo il business qui, che è uno dei nostri più grandi mercati nel gruppo Heineken, e ora sono appena arrivato qui nella bellissima Italia. The Italian market is a very special market. It is within Europe, one of our key markets. And it's quite a unique market it has and that sounds a bit negative. It has one of the lowest per capita consumption of beer, comparable to countries like France or Greece, because it has a very strong wine culture. Now the good news about when something is low, is it can grow. So we see a lot of opportunities here in in Italy and actually growth is what we have seen in the last decades. Per capita consumption grew from 50 years ago, 16l per capita to now 36l per capita. The beer market tripled from around 6 million hectolitres to now 18 million hectolitres. And on the back of this growth, and of course, driven by our efforts, Heineken Italy also made a remarkable journey of growth. Today we celebrate the start of our operations in 74, when we acquired the Moustapha Brewery. We were importing Heineken at the time we were brewing the brand at the time. Then in the 80s, we expanded our operations, acquiring the Assembly Brewery in Sardinia, Aosta in the north of Italy, and then in the 90s from Norwalk, New York, Bergamo. So that has been our journey in Italy. And it's been quite an amazing journey. Now to your question on my impressions of the Italian market. Again, walking around Milan, I've seen a few other cities already. I am really inspired by something that is very close to Heineken's purpose. Heineken purpose is around the joy of true togetherness. We believe that over a beer, people come together, share stories. And that is the joy of true togetherness in a world that is becoming more and more individualistic. And it seems that this joy of true togetherness really is part of Italian culture. Isn't that fantastic that people almost get together on a daily basis over a narrative to share the stories, the experiences of the day. So I found that super inspiring and a great opportunity for beer. So yes, the opportunities, the occasions are there. People share a lot of convivial moments together, and maybe we should try and increase our share versus the other colorful drinks that people are consuming nowadays. I'm also actually quite positively surprised by the sophisticated and responsible relationship that the Italians have with alcohol. So it is true that people go out almost every day, but they could spend two hours talking to friends over one drink, which is quite hard for me. As a Dutch, I cannot imagine going to a bar and spending the whole evening drinking one beer. We probably end up drinking maybe 2 or 3 if we stay a moment. And I vividly remember an Irish colleague once challenging me on the Dutch drinking habits, he said: "Alex, what's the use of drinking three beers?". Because they are thirsty for more. So the fact that there's a high frequency but a very sophisticated relationship with alcohol, I think that is something very positive that we strive for. So we look back with an immense gratitude to the last 50 years, but we also look forward with a lot of excitement to the next 50 years now. Heineken is a branded brewer. We brew fantastic beers, but we do so in a branded way, which has now grown to be Italy's most popular and biggest beer brand. And it doesn't stop there on the back of Heineken's international footprint. It is now growing at rapid pace beyond Italy. And maybe you've read in the press, I think it was a month ago that Birra moretti is now the biggest beer in the UK, beating Foster's, who has been there for decades and decades. So that is an amazing trait of how strong brands can be successful within Italy, but also beyond. I also think of brands like Ignasi Messina that started as very traditional brands on the islands that have now become very popular and strong brands around Italy. So that's what we do. We build strong brands and that's also a responsibility that we have as category leader in a country with so many opportunities like Italy, it is our responsibility to make the category more interesting, more vibrant for the Italian consumers. So that's what we work hard for. I'm very excited to be landing here right at the moment that we celebrate 50 years. And I'm equally humbled that I can kick off the next 50 years with the team here present and of course, in our Paris and across the market. So we look forward to with a lot of excitement to our continued journey in the next 50 years in energy."