Going Dutch
traces the story of a Dutch brewery that is planning to make serious inroads into the UK on-trade
It was during the football World Cup in Germany last summer that Bavaria, Holland's second-largest brewer, received international press coverage on an unprecedented scale - and it was all down to bright orange trousers.
The family-owned firm had been distributing branded "leeuwenhose" - fluffy lederhosen with lions' tails and large beer-storage pockets - at all the Dutch games when football's governing-body Fifa decided to step in. Keen to protect the interests of the official sponsors - most notably Heineken - Fifa ordered the removal of all lederhosen before Holland's game with Ivory Coast.
"It was crazy - people were forced to watch football in their underpants," says Bavaria director Stin Swinkels. "We had a permit to sell the leeuwenhose outside but no one was allowed in the stadium with them."
The matter ended up in court, with the judge ruling in Bavaria's favour and supporters were allowed to keep their trousers on. The judge, however, also ruled that they weren't to be distributed any more.
"By then, it was too late anyway," adds Swinkels. "It wasn't a conscious plan, but the conflict worked in our interest and helped increase our global profile tremendously."
Rise in exports
Raising its game on the global stage has been high on the list of Bavaria's priorities for some time. Long established in Holland, the brewer has been increasing its exporting business steadily over a number of years. Bavaria's first export contract went to Italy in 1973, and during the 1990s it was successful in selling into former Soviet countries and Eastern Europe. Its beers are currently sold in more than 100 countries.
Now Bavaria has turned its attention to the UK market with a number of marketing deals designed to push its 5% abv brand. Following a period of growth in the off-trade, the brewer hopes to increase its on-trade presence by targeting upmarket style bars and clubs.
There is no accurate record of Bavaria beer's age, but evidence suggests it was brewed as long ago as 1680. What is known is that Laurentius Morees started his own brewery in 1719 and through the marriage of Morees' daughter in 1764, Bavaria became the property of the Swinkels family, where it has remained to this day.
Seven generations of Swinkels later, Bavaria produces more than five million hectolitres of beer annually at its impressive brewery in the village of Lieshout, just a few miles north of Eindhoven. Sixty thousand bottles pass through every hour on a site that includes its own pub, Moorees, which caters for visiting tourists throughout the year.
Today, five members of the Swinkels family sit on the board. "We remain a family business so we don't have to answer to shareholders, but that engenders another set of problems," says Stin Swinkels. "Everyone has to agree and I think that's something we manage to do quite well."
Apart from the flagship brand, Bavaria brews a range of lagers with varying strengths and flavours for its home market. Bavaria 8.6 is a speciality beer that Swinkels claims has done remarkably well since its introduction.
"The 8.6% abv lager is massive in France, and it's growing in Holland," he says. "It's all because of the changing demographic of beer drinkers - they are an older age group than ever before and these people are looking for taste and quality over volume."
Even so, Bavaria produces a darker, sweeter 8.6 variety aimed at younger drinkers. And innovation hasn't stopped there - in May, Bavaria began selling bottled mineral water in Holland. Sourced from beneath the brewery it is also used to make the beer.
Importance of water quality
"We originally planned to label our beer with the information that it's made from mineral water, but research suggested consumers wouldn't notice, so we decided to tell the story another way by bottling it," says Swinkels. "It's picked up really well and interest is great."
Swinkels feels the water quality is one of two reasons why Bavaria scored so well in recent taste tests, run in conjunction with the University of Leuven in Belgium. The other is that the brewer produces its own malt, laying claim to the world's largest malting plant, in Groningen. "Having our own malting operation means we know exactly what to expect. Malts are seasonal, like grapes, so we know how to deal with these changes," he says.
The Dutch brewer is pushing these aspects to the UK on-trade. Aided by business development manager Rakesh Shah, UK sales director Mike Teague has made the south of England a priority. "If possible, I'd like to negotiate with a regional brewer that handles the types of outlets fitting our profile, to see whether we can get distribution that way," says Teague.
Bavaria UK's £700,000 marketing push for the year included Isle of Man TT race sponsorship in June, and backing the World Darts Champion Tour, which played at 48 venues.
The campaign's focal point is a series of TV adverts across several Sky channels, including Sky Sports and ESPN. With a strapline of "It's time to become men again", the ads have men breaking out from everyday roles, such as shopping, to run through fields and forests in a show of masculine strength and perseverance to reach a bar serving Bavaria. Little surprise then, that this time there isn't a pair of orange lederhosen in sight.
Bavaria - key facts
l Bavaria is the biggest family-owned brewer in the Netherlands and the second-largest brewery in the country
l The brewery produces more than five million hectolitres of beer every year - main markets in Europe are France, Italy, Spain, Croatia and the UK
l Bavaria also owns a soft-drinks factory, two malt houses and has links with a
Trappist brewery
l Set up in 1985, Bavaria UK has established itself selling imported lager through
supermarkets and convenience stores
l In blind taste tests, 40% of men and 44% of women preferred Bavaria Premium to four other leading lagers
l In similar tests comparing non-alcoholic lagers, Bavaria Malt proved top choice for 42% of people
Bavaria's family of beers
Bavaria Premium - the flagship 5% abv
Pilsner, is claimed to combine "citrus notes and a fruity sweetness with malt flavours"
Bavaria Malt - in contrast to other
non-alcoholic beers, Bavaria Malt is made entirely without alcohol, which Bavaria says helps maintain the full taste
La Trappe - brewed by monks in Holland since 1884, La Trappe is the only Dutch Trappist beer
Bavaria 8.6 - a special blond 8.6% abv beer that has a "strong, rich taste with hints of dried fruit and liquorice"
Bavaria Crown - a derivative of Bavaria Premium with a slightly lower abv of 4.3%
