Amstel is set to return to the off-trade just five months after brand owner Heineken pulled it.
The brewer is pitching the brand back into the market as a standard strength lager imported from Holland.
The original 5% beer was axed after Heineken ended its deal with Bulmers, which brewed it under licence in the UK.
Heineken is meeting with buyers before Christmas to discuss the new imported 4.1% abv brew which, when launched officially next year, will bring the take home offering in line with the version available in pubs.
Acknowledging that Amstel would be going on to the same ground Heineken used to occupy, Simon Green, Amstel’s brand manager, said: “Buyers want a better quality standard lager than Heineken was. We need to add value rather than be a commodity brand and don’t want to be in large formats with bottom end pricing.”
However, the company stressed the Heineken brand would remain its key priority and pledged to upweight support for the brand in 2004. A £27m marketing package has been put in place along with a series of SKU changes aimed at simplifying the offering across trade channels.
Kicking off in March, a TV ad highlighting the brand’s 330ml can format, resembling a beer keg, will spearhead a new set of commercials for the lager.
The brewer is pitching the brand back into the market as a standard strength lager imported from Holland.
The original 5% beer was axed after Heineken ended its deal with Bulmers, which brewed it under licence in the UK.
Heineken is meeting with buyers before Christmas to discuss the new imported 4.1% abv brew which, when launched officially next year, will bring the take home offering in line with the version available in pubs.
Acknowledging that Amstel would be going on to the same ground Heineken used to occupy, Simon Green, Amstel’s brand manager, said: “Buyers want a better quality standard lager than Heineken was. We need to add value rather than be a commodity brand and don’t want to be in large formats with bottom end pricing.”
However, the company stressed the Heineken brand would remain its key priority and pledged to upweight support for the brand in 2004. A £27m marketing package has been put in place along with a series of SKU changes aimed at simplifying the offering across trade channels.
Kicking off in March, a TV ad highlighting the brand’s 330ml can format, resembling a beer keg, will spearhead a new set of commercials for the lager.
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