The history of Heineken starts on December 16, 1863. On that day
Gerard Adriaan Heineken bought the De Hooiberg Brewery (The Haystack)
in Amsterdam. The brewery had been in existence since the 16th century
and in two centuries it had grown to become the biggest in Amsterdam.
The purchase of De Hooiberg was the birth of the firm of Heineken &
Co.
The family owns through L’Arche S.A. just more than half of the
shares of Heineken Holding, which in turn has the majority of shares of
Heineken N.V. (the parent company of Heineken USA).
The history of Heineken starts on December 16, 1863 when Gerard
Adriaan Heineken bought the De Hooiberg Brewery (The Haystack) in
Amsterdam. The purchase of De Hooiberg was the birth of the firm of
Heineken & Co. Within a few years Gerard Adriaan increased sales so
much that construction of a new brewery was necessary. On the outskirts
of Amsterdam, a new brewery was built. It remained in operation until
1988 when it was eventually closed because of logistics obstacles (the
steady spread of the city meant that the brewery was located in the
center of Amsterdam). A large part of the brewery made way for houses.
But the brewhouse and part of the storage cellars were converted into
the Heineken Reception Center where more than a hundred thousand
visitors a year from all parts of the world are given a guided tour. On
January 4, 1873 the board of directors of Heineken’s Bierbrouwerij
Maatschappij NV decided to build a brewery in Rotterdam as well. The
Rotterdam brewery, too, eventually closed its gates in the 1970′s
because a brand-new brewery had been built at Zoeterwoude, mid-way
between Rotterdam and Amsterdam. This brewery, Europe’s most advanced
started production in 1975. The brewery currently has an annual
capacity of eleven million hectoliters.
Heineken beer is available in more than 170 countries. The company’s
product portfolio consists of over 80 brands although Heineken USA only
imports Heineken Lager, Heineken Special Dark, Amstel Light and Buckler
into the U.S. With more than 110 breweries in over 50 countries and
export activities all over the world, Heineken is the most
international brewery group in the world. In 1999 the total beer volume
of the Heineken Group amounted to 90.9 million hectolitres, ensuring
the Group’s second place in the world rankings. All Heineken products
imported into the U.S. are brewed in Holland.
