Heineken N.V.

Heineken N.V., which does business as The Heineken Company, is a Dutch multinational brewer. It was founded in Amsterdam in 1864 by Gerard Adriaan Heineken. The company operates more than 165 breweries across over 70 countries and produces 348 international, regional, local, and specialty beers and ciders. It employs roughly 85,000 people.

Recent history

In 2019, Heineken brewed 24.14 billion litres of beer and reported global revenues of €23.894 billion. It is the largest brewer in Europe and, following the 2016 merger of Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller, the second-largest brewer worldwide by volume. Its Dutch breweries are located in Zoeterwoude, 's-Hertogenbosch, and Wijlre. The original Amsterdam brewery, which closed in 1988, now operates as the Heineken Experience museum.

Gerard Adriaan Heineken

The company began when 22-year-old Gerard Adriaan Heineken bought a brewery called De Hooiberg in Amsterdam in 1864. In 1868, the brewery moved to the Stadhouderskade.

A year later, Heineken hired Bavarian brewer Wilhelm Feltmann and began using bottom-fermenting yeast. In 1873, the brewery was renamed Heineken's Bierbrouwerij Maatschappij, and a second brewery, d’Oranjeboom, opened in Rotterdam in 1874. In 1886, Dr. H. Elion, a student of Louis Pasteur, developed the "Heineken A-yeast" in the company’s lab, which remains essential to the beer.

Henry Pierre Heineken

Gerard’s son, Henry Pierre Heineken, ran the company from 1917 to 1940 and stayed involved until 1951. Under his leadership, Heineken developed methods to ensure consistent beer quality during large-scale production. After World War I, the company focused on exports. Three days after the end of Prohibition in the United States, the first Heineken shipment arrived in New York, and the brand has since remained one of the most successful imported beers in the country.

Alfred Henry Heineken

Henry Pierre’s son, Alfred Henry "Freddy" Heineken, joined the company on 1 June 1941, at a time when the family no longer owned it. He later bought back stock to regain family control and became chairman of the executive board in 1971.

He drove Heineken’s global expansion and remained involved until his death in 2002, even after retiring from the board in 1989. During this era, Heineken boosted its stock price by buying and closing competing breweries. After World War II, many small breweries were acquired or shut down.