Heineken has revised its medium-term guidance, forecasting a mid-single-digit rate of sales increases as part of its ‘EverGreen 2030’ strategy.
The brewer, which earlier this week saw its top line enter the red in its third-quarter, said it expects its rate of operating profit to grow ahead of sales, as part of its latest five-year plan. Nevertheless, Heineken has forecast mid-single-digit sales growth after “building on the structural growth of the beer category and its advantaged footprint”.
The Amstel brand owner also expects the overall beer category to deliver structural volume growth of around 1% per year over the period, representing what it called “meaningful headroom for expansion” despite the category’s slow recovery from pandemic and inflationary impacts.
Heineken said that medium-term growth will be driven by its “advantaged” geographic footprint, particularly in fast-growing emerging markets such as India, Vietnam, Ethiopia and Mexico, as well as a continued presence in the premium and alcohol-free segments. The Amsterdam-headquartered group said it will concentrate its efforts on 17 unspecified “focus growth markets”.
As part of the plan, Heineken is targeting gross savings of between EUR400 and EUR500m (US$465m-$580m) per year, building on the EUR3bn achieved under EverGreen 2025.
A restructuring of the Amsterdam headquarters is planned next year, with some roles transitioning to Heineken Business Services and selected departments being redesigned, with around 400 jobs lined up to be impacted.
CEO Dolf van den Brink described EverGreen 2030 as a plan to “fundamentally transform the business to stay ahead in an increasingly volatile geopolitical and economic landscape”.
