Heineken continues Asian investment
capacity in the Asia-Pacific region by expanding its Nonthaburi
plant. The upgrading has made the brewery the largest in the
region. It has invested Bt2. 9 billion on the plant that which will
allow it to produce 200 million litre of beer annually.
The company hopes that the expansion of the plant will enable it to launch new beer products into the Thia market. For example they comp-any ha considered producing a product for the premium section of the local market, a section in which Heineken already enjoys an 80 per cent stake.
"We project the premium-beer segment to grow by 7 per cent this year and the total beer market to expand by 10 per cent to 1.6 billion litres worth Bt80.5 billion," Panya Pongtanya, APB's general manager said.
" We expect a maximum annual capacity of 200 million litres or around one million bottles a day in three years," he added.
Since the Nonthaburi factory opened in 1995, Heineken has invested Bt8 billion in the site.This year, in addition to the plant investment, APB will invest Bt650 million in advertising and marketing campaigns this year to strengthen its Heineken brand.
The company began exporting Heineken from the Nonthaburi plant to Malaysia and Singapore late lat year, and it is expected that its export to other regions will soon follow.
The Thia company predicts that Heineken exports could represent 20 to 30 per cent of total sales in the next three years.
Danold Otten, technical manager of APB said that the Nonthaburi investment is part of Heineken's plan to source beer from anywhere in the world.
Danish Brewery Group to brew Heineken in Denmark
Elsewhere, in Denmark, an increase in Heineken sales has led The Danish Brewery Group (DBG) to join forces with Heineken to produce beer for the company.
DGB began distributing Heineken's beer cans, bottles and barrels last year in the Denmark last year. The company hopes that the venture will put it in a stronger position to compete with Carlsberg, the current leaders in the Danish market with a 70 per cent stake.
