Multiple lockdowns as well as bar and restaurant closures have taken a toll on the dutch brewing company, Last year, it registered a net profit of €2.1 billion. “The Covid-19 pandemic and government actions continue to have an impact on our markets and business,” the group said in its annual results release. According to its CEO, Dolf van den Brink, 2020 was "an unprecedented year of rupture and transition" for the group, which ended with a deficit of over €200 million.

Sales fell from 17% to €23 billion as less than 30% of the company’s outlets were active in Europe, especially at the end of January, Heineken said. 

Nevertheless, 25 of the company’s markets, including Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom recorded a double-digit growth.

By the end of last year, the group launched its Evergreen plan to emerge stronger from the health crisis. It now plans to eliminate 8,000 jobs, or one tenth of its workforce, by 2023, in an attempt to regain some leeway at the same time, by accelerating its digitisation.

This article was originally published in French on Paperjam.lu and has been translated and edited for Delano.