COVID-19 and beer: Heineken, Tiger reveal online sales surge and NPD focus amid pandemic
Heineken and Tiger Beer told us in May that it took measures earlier in the year to revise marketing strategies and double-down on product innovation after seeing online sales surge after the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak hit on-trade consumption.
Both Heineken and Tiger are operated by HEINEKEN APAC in the Asia Pacific region. Despite losses from on-site beer consumption wrought by lockdowns throughout the region, the firm has maintained that online sales have more than made up for this.
“Where countries have to close F&B outlets and implement some form of lockdown as part of safe distancing measures, we [have seen] an impact on the sale of our beers,” HEINEKEN APAC Heineken and Tiger Brand Director Maud Meijboom told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“The impact has differed by brand, for example whether they have a significant footprint in the F&B outlets, [and] for newer products it also depends on what channels we are looking at, e.g. new products we have launched in retail are performing in line with the trend in that channel.
“[That said], online sales are going up for us during this period for two reasons: With safe distancing measures in place, a number of countries have implemented closure of F&B businesses and confined people at home. The lack of options is a boost for online sales, where available."
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