UK: Heineken unveils new lower-alcohol, less-bitter Heineken Silver beer

Heineken has unveiled its “biggest ever” launch – a lower-alcohol, less-bitter spin-off called Heineken Silver, The Grocer reported on March 4.

The brewing giant’s new lager (4% abv) uses an “ice-cold brewing process” to create a significantly less bitter taste than the brand’s core lager and a “lighter drinking profile”.

Heineken is set to splash £20 mln on marketing the launch, and will mount a one million can sampling campaign to build awareness.

The launch is especially designed to appeal to gen Z and millennial shoppers. The beer category was “underindexing with 18 to 34-year-olds – that’s a historic trend”, Heineken category & commercial strategy director Alexander Wilson told The Grocer.

This age group was “looking for a beer that is a little bit less bitter”, he added – hence the new drink had “roughly half the bitterness of Heineken original” at 10 IBUs (International Bitterness Units).

It will launch on 21 March in 330ml bottles and 330ml ‘slimline’ cans, which Wilson said would “nicely differentiate it from the rest of the category” as well as the core beer.

It marks the second major Heineken launch in weeks: last month, the brewer unveiled Strongbow Ultra Dark Fruit, a lower-calorie cider similarly aimed at younger shoppers.

“It’s important for the long-term health of the category to bring younger consumers through,” Wilson said.

“We do recognise that innovation sales have been low during the pandemic,” he added. “A lot of manufacturers have concentrated on core to keep supply running and pulled innovation back – but innovation is critical.”

The move comes on the back of a strong year for the core Heineken beer: its sales were down just 0.8% over the year to 29 January 2022, against the tough comparables of the prior period, while many rivals saw much steeper declines [NielsenIQ].

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