Netherlands: Heineken and Krups introduce BeerTender compatible with DraughtKeg

Heineken International announced October 19 an extension of its successful DraughtKeg and BeerTender® technology, which will open up new markets for the BeerTender system.

The latest innovation is a new BeerTender, which is now compatible with the 5-liter selfpressurized and recyclable DraughtKeg. To date, the home draught beer system BeerTender has been restricted to those markets, which have the infrastructure for returnable kegs (The Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria). The introduction of BeerTender in France presently represents the first market with a non-returnable keg system and builds upon the already successful 5-liter DraughtKeg business.

The new system offers the consumer a premium quality draught beer for all drinking occasions, both by using the DraughtKeg as a stand-alone portable draught beer system and in the BeerTender appliance for regular use at home. The BeerTender with the dual-purpose Heineken® DraughtKeg was first launched in France today and Heineken expects further rollout in other countries in due course.

“Our innovations are key drivers for growth, especially for the Heineken brand”, comments Peter van Campen, Director Group Commerce of Heineken International. “By offering BeerTender with a recyclable keg instead of a returnable keg, we now can accelerate volume growth in those markets which were previously closed for BeerTender”.

Heineken N.V. reported on 6 September 2006 that in the first half of 2006, beer volume generated by recent innovative beer systems such as DraughtKeg, BeerTender and the David draught system grew more than 30%, albeit from a low volume base.

In April 2005, Heineken introduced DraughtKeg, which is now available in 45 countries. The filling-line capacity is currently being expanded to meet the high consumer demand for DraughtKeg worldwide.