By: Staff Writer
Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka’s second largest brewer Heineken Lanka to further strengthen its position in the market dominated by the largest of Sri Lanka’s brewers the Lion Brewery, which is also the oldest brewery in the country.
Heineken Asia Pacific Regional Managing Director Uday Sinha has recently made a landmark visit to Sri Lanka focusing on engaging with local teams and partners to further strengthen its position in the local market.
Heineken Lanka started as United Breweries Lanka in 1997, and was later acquired by Asia Pacific Brewery (Lanka) Limited (the former name of Heineken Lanka) in 2005.
The brewery’s parent company, Heineken Asia Pacific (formerly known as Asia Pacific Breweries), is a Singaporean-based joint venture between Heineken International and Fraser and Neave. The brewery, located in Mawathagama, produces a range of medium and high-strength beers,
This was Heineken Asia Pacific Regional Managing Director Uday Sinha’s first visit to Sri Lanka since the company Heineken Lanka, a wholly owned subsidiary of Heineken NV, commenced locally brewing its global premium flagship brand Heineken in 2021.
It is the only 100% pure malt lager beer in Sri Lanka. It is brewed using the four high-quality ingredients of European malt, water, European Hops, and Heineken A-Yeast and managed through stringent quality controls.
Domiciled in Singapore, and an engineer by profession, conferred by the prestigious Birla Institute of Technology in India, Sinha also holds a Master of Business Administration from Xavier School of Management.
As Regional Managing Director at Heineken Asia Pacific, he is responsible for overseeing the growth and development of some of Heineken’s 24 operating companies in the region, including Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Papua New Guinea, since 2021.
Emphasizing the country’s strategic importance, Sinha said: “We see the immense potential of Sri Lanka through moderation and enjoyment with our international premium brands.
We are happy to have invested significantly in the country over the years and support Sri Lanka during turbulent times, especially through the recent up-gradation of our brewery, to locally brew our beer brands to match the international quality and standards it is globally renowned for.”
He added: “As Sri Lanka returns to recovery, we look forward to seeing progressive strides being made to enable consumers to choose the brands they love through a fair and competitive playing field.
The key here is to unlock greater accessibility of soft liquor in the market by granting increased operating licenses in the country.
He thanked the Government of Sri Lanka, the Department of Excise, the Ministry of Finance, and all other stakeholders who are making every effort to make this a reality and look forward to working closely together with them in this regard.”
Heineken Lanka Managing Director Maud Meijboom-van Wel said: “they intend to lead the market through our iconic brands with passion through innovation and premiumization at scale, providing consumers and customers with the brands they want to buy with easy access.
This visit, therefore, helped us accelerate our commitment to deliver on our portfolio strategy that is fit to win and capable of shaping the future of the beer market in Sri Lanka,” she added.
