We see Fresh Beer as an opportunity to place beer back at the centre of its own story.

To date, all beer is distributed through warm transport chains and can sit in warehouses and on shelves, exposed to light, time and temperature, for months before consumers make their purchase. We needed to develop a system to overcome this.

So we put our heads together with our master brewers and collaborated with logistics experts to completely overhaul our operation. Change was necessary at every level, from brewing capacities, packaging and delivery right through to the product’s display, resulting in an entirely new supply chain for beer.

Instead of brewing big batches for stock, Fresh Beer is brewed to order. The cold logistics were developed in collaboration with retailers Tesco, Carrefour and Hermanos Martin and their dairy suppliers. Cold express delivery from brewery to store and a 30-day expiry date mean that Fresh Beer can be enjoyed before temperature and time have a detrimental effect.

But light was still a factor. Wrapping the bottles seemed the logical answer, but doing this by hand would price the beer out of the market.

The solution lay in confectionary. Flow wrapping has been used for years by brands such as Mars. Spending 6 months with our 10 best innovators, we modified this existing flow-wrapping technology to wrap our bottles in recyclable paper, automate the system, reduce costs and make it affordable to bring to market.

Finally, we looked to its placement in supermarkets. Consumers know fresh produce tastes better and delivers higher quality. We’ve leveraged these existing consumers beliefs, placing beer in its rightful place with fresh produce in dairy fridges. By moving beer to the fresh aisle, we have redefined the product, creating a whole new category in the minds and palettes of consumers.

The goal at Heineken is to create a new global beer category. The objective for Fresh Beer is ambitious, aiming to achieve 10% of its local leading beer brand’s volume in 5 years in many markets.

Initial sales results from Hungary show Fresh Beer already has an 11% share of Soproni Frissen Csapolt’s volume in just 24 weeks.

Results also show that Fresh Beer exceeded targets by 300% in Spain and enjoys equal sales in Hungary. More than 80% of consumers plan to purchase Fresh Beer again. In fact, 42% have already purchased it twice more in Hungary and 18% in Spain. When comparing it to other beers, 71% and 47% of people have a better opinion Soproni Frissen Csapolt in Hungary and Cruzcampo Fresca in Spain respectively.

Retailers (Tesco, Carrefour and Hermanos Martin) have also embraced it with great enthusiasm, placing it in the fridge next to milk and extending the pilot in a structural collaboration.

Following these early enthusiastic results, we are now preparing launches in the UK, France, The Netherlands and Italy throughout 2015.