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Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star.

History

On 15 February 1864, Gerard Adriaan Heineken (1841–1893) bought De Hooiberg (The Haystack) brewery on the Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal canal in Amsterdam, a popular working class brand founded in 1592. In 1873 after hiring a Dr. Elion (student of Louis Pasteur) to develop Heineken a yeast for Bavarian bottom fermentation, the HBM (Heineken's Bierbrouwerij Maatschappij) was established, and the first Heineken brand beer was brewed. In 1875 Heineken won the Medaille D'Or at the International Maritime Exposition in Paris and it began to be shipped there regularly, after which Heineken sales topped 64,000 hectolitres (1.7 million U.S. gallons), making them the biggest beer exporter to France.


In Heineken's early years, the beer won four awards:

*''Medaille d'Or'' (Gold Medal) at the International Maritime Exhibition (International Exhibition of Marine and River Industries) in Paris in May 1875.
*''Diplome d'Honneurs'' (Honorary Diploma) at the International Colonial and Export Exhibition in Amsterdam in 1883.
*''Grand Prix'' (Grand Prize) at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889.
*''Hors Concours Membre du Jury'' in Paris in 1900.
The two awards that are still mentioned on the label are the Medaille d'Or and Diplome d'Honneurs.

In 2013, Heineken joined leading alcohol producers as part of a producers' commitments to reducing harmful drinking.

In the end of February 2013, Heineken stopped producing the brown bottles used for the Dutch market in favor of the green color of bottles it already used for exports.

In 2014, Heineken celebrated its 150th anniversary. In 2015, Heineken won the Creative Marketer of the Year Award, becoming the second company to win the award twice.

The original brewery where Gerard Adriaan Heineken first started making Heineken is now the Heineken Experience Museum.

Heineken 0.0

Heineken launched its first non-alcoholic beer in 2017, naming it "Heineken 0.0". It was evaluated positively in terms of taste, with "almost the same taste" as the full-alcohol version, even though Heineken does not claim it to be of the same taste. It was also found to be lower in calories and sugar than a soda.

However, as is the case with most ‘non-alcoholic’ beers, Heineken 0.0 actually still does contain a trace amount of alcohol (about 0.05 percent). It has less alcohol than grape juice or orange juice, which naturally have some alcohol content even if lower than most drinks (0.30 to 0.86).

Job cuts

In February 2021, after reporting a loss of $247.6 million in 2020, Heineken said that it was planning to cut 8000 jobs and seek savings of $2.4 billion over two years.

Production

Since 1975, most Heineken brand beer has been brewed at their brewery in Zoeterwoude, Netherlands. In 2011, 2.74 billion litres of Heineken brand beer were produced worldwide, while the total beer production of all breweries fully owned by the Heineken Group over all brands was 16.46 billion litres globally. As of 2022 Heineken is sold in 192 countries. They have also been incorporated with numerous beer brands in countries all over the world including Mexico, China, Australia and various countries in Africa.

Advertising

Heineken was the major sponsor of UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Euro and Rugby World Cup; major sponsorship of Rugby Union had begun in Wales with the Welsh Premier Division competition.

Dating back to 1997, Heineken has had a long withstanding relationship with the Bond franchise, consecutively being featured in 7 of their films. As of 2015 the brand's largest global marketing platform.

In 2016, Heineken became the Official Beer of the FIA Formula One World Championship starting from the Canadian Grand Prix. During races, Heineken also puts its "When You Drink, Never Drive" advertising campaign all over the race as a campaign to end drink driving.

In August 2021, Heineken signed a multi-year deal with W Series as the global partner for all-Women single-seater racing series.

Starting with the 2020-24 cycle, Heineken became the sponsors of UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League through Heineken 0.0 brands.

See also

* Alcohol in Iran

References

*

External links

*
{{Heineken International

Beer in the Netherlands
Heineken brands
1873 introductions