Heineken has staged a resurgence in Tesco, winning back a raft of listings for brands such as Birra Moretti and Desperados since the start of the year.
The brewer, which had its presence in Tesco slashed last year amid rumours of a pricing dispute, has gained 11 new listings since the end of January, bringing its total SKU count to 36 [Brand View 52 w/e 4 April 2018].
Its Italian beer brand Birra Moretti, which was completely ditched by Tesco last year, has returned with one listing for 12x330ml multipacks.
Desperados, which was left with just one SKU after Tesco’s 2017 cull, has secured new listings for its 12x250ml multipacks and five-litre kegs.
Tesco has also added new skus for Bulmers, Foster’s, Kronenbourg 1664, Strongbow and Heineken lager. However, it has delisted 20x440ml packs of Foster’s.
A Heineken spokesman said the brewer “doesn’t comment on individual customer arrangements”.
Tesco’s binning of over 30 Heineken SKUs last year was widely understood to have been the result of cost price increases from the brewer spurred on by weakened sterling in the wake of the Brexit vote.
The move had a considerable impact on the brewer’s UK performance. It reported “a high single-digit decline in the UK, where volumes were affected by a partial delisting” for the past financial year.
It is not clear whether Heineken has changed its cost prices this year, but its major rivals, AB InBev and Molson Coors, have both upped theirs.
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