Brand moves its lager production to the Heineken breweries in Den Bosch. This means that most major Dutch beer brands are brewed in Brabant. But what does this mean for the image of Limburg beer?
Heineken, Bavaria, La Trappe, Budels, Dommelsch and Amstel. These are some of the beers brewed in Brabant. Brand is now added. The lager production of the Limburg beer brand is moving to Den Bosch. And Brabant had been the province with the most beer breweries in the Netherlands for some time: no fewer than 208 in 2021, according to figures from the Chamber of Commerce.
Sustainability
The fact that Brabant is such a hotspot in the beer sector was not the reason for the relocation of the Brand lager production. There was a completely different reason for this: sustainability, explains Menno van der Vlist. He is a spokesperson for Brand parent company Heineken. “We want to continue to grow in a sustainable way.”
There is no longer enough space at the old production location in Wijlre in South Limburg to accommodate the growth of Brand Production. Van der Vlis: “And in Den Bosch it is easier to produce CO2-neutrally. At that location, for example, we are already making more use of solar panels.”
Best for Brand
But won’t the move affect the image of the brand that has always prided itself on its Limburg origin? Van der Vlist can be brief about this: “We don’t think so, and are convinced that this is best for Brand”.
Marketing expert Paul Moers thinks otherwise. “Brand loses authenticity and history in this way. That will damage the brand,” he says. “And that’s a shame. It doesn’t matter that Brand’s specialty beer is still brewed in Limburg. Brand beer itself does not disappear, but the story does suddenly disappear.”
The Brand beer will be made in Den Bosch from 2024, the same place where Heineken, Amstel and Desperados are also brewed.
Taste
The taste of the lager remains the same, Van der Vlist assures. “We do not deviate from the original recipe and work with the same ingredients. “We are still proud of that.”
The beer is brewed at the location in Den Bosch in separate rooms, our own boilers and with our own brewing technique. The Tilburg beer sommelier Mark van Bergen also expects no difference with the current Brand lager. “I hope the taste stays the same,” he says. “The only thing that could be different is the water, but they could still adjust that.”