"Brewing a Better World” in Romania!
The NL Embassy in Romania has recently paid a visit to the Heineken Craiova Brewery, one of the three breweries operated in the country. The purpose of the visit was to get better acquainted with the endeavours of Heineken Romania in reaching its net zero status goal and produce more sustainably, and to reaffirm the good relationship with the company.
Brew a better World (BaBW) 2030 strategy
Heineken’s sustainability ambition is based on a Brew a better World (BaBW) 2030 strategy, that consists of three pillars with related goals: environmental (reach net zero carbon, maximise circularity, healthy watersheds and nature), social (diversity, equity and inclusion, fair and safe workplace, positive impact in local communities) and responsible consumption.
Alike its mother-company, Heineken Romania has high ambitions to making the entire production chain more sustainable. The net zero climate goal has been reached for the primary production processes in Romania, and to be further implemented in the entire supply chain. Heineken will collaborate with Engie Romania to implement specialised technology and energy solutions, as part of the company’s decarbonization roadmap in all three local breweries, in Miercurea-Ciuc, Ungheni (Mures) and Craiova.
“Our partnership with ENGIE allows us to take a great, important step in our Net Zero journey here in Romania. This has been a priority for us ever since HEINEKEN has announced its global ambition to decarbonize production” – Thibaut Boidin, Managing Director, Heineken Romania has stated recently.
At the moment, 88% of the ingredients are locally sourced and 99% of the local production is sold on the local market. This way Heineken contributes substantially to the local community, creating jobs (more than 1000 direct employees and around 60,000 indirect jobs) and contributing to economic development.
Craiova Brewery
Craiova Brewery was founded in 1970 and became part of Heineken in 2003. The sales capacity is 2.2 million hl, the volume produced in 2024 is 1.76 million hl, and the Heineken brewery in Craiova is a certified Bronze brewery (won in 2015 the Bronze Certification TPM/Total Product Management certification for reducing & eliminating waste and losses).
Heineken local brands
Heineken local brands include Neumarkt, Ciuc, Golden Brau, Silva, Harghita, Hategana, Bucegi. Global brands comprise Heineken, Desperados, Edelweiss, Birra Moretti and also cider (Strongbow). All brands are performing well on the Romanian market.
Amstel launch in Romania
Amstel launch in Romania. At the time of the visit, there was great excitement in the Craiova brewery due to the preparations for the new product launching of the Amstel brand (on March 26). The Dutch resonance of the brand as well as its long history – having “friendship” as a central theme (in recognition of the two friends which created this beer in 1870 in Amsterdam) provided good auspices for the launch. Amstel is a best practice in terms of 100% produced in Romania, 100% malt recipe and 150 years of friendship heritage!
