Heineken sees volumes drop in Europe

Heineken has seen its sales volumes drop, but total sales increase due to an average price increase of more than 12 %. The brewery group sees a huge difference between sales evolutions in supermarkets and in hospitality.

Slower than expected

Heineken’s net revenue totalled 8.02 billion euros in the last quarter, corresponding to organic sales growth of 4.5 %. However, this growth was entirely due to price increases, averaging 12.1 % during the quarter. Volumes lagged behind: in Europe, Heineken sales volumes dropped 7.6 %.

Heineken does not attribute the fall in volumes to price hikes, but to the poor weather conditions over the summer. It should also be noted that the brewery group is gaining market share in the European foodservice sector, but is having a tougher time in supermarkets. Similarly, Coca-Cola admitted today that consumers in supermarkets are more likely to opt for cheaper private labels, whereas out-of-home they have no such choice.

Heineken itself speaks of a gradual improvement in the company’s performance, albeit somewhat slower than its ambitions. Still, the beer producer believes that the biggest price rises are now in the past. For the financial year as a whole, the Dutch group is maintaining its profit growth forecast of 0 to 5 %, a forecast that had been revised downwards at the end of July.