Heineken Silver is crafted with malted barley, water, and a small but significant extra ingredient, Heineken's signature A Yeast.And it's brewed to create full-bodied flavor without a bitter finish, while staying true to Heineken's passion for quality and commitment to premium ingredients. Bram Westenbrink, Global Heineken® Brand Director at HEINEKEN, said: "We launched Heineken® Silver in the metaverse first as an ironic take on a product launch to highlight that we believe the best way to experience Heineken® is in the real world. Today we are really playing with this virtual to real world, with 'phygital' events across Europe, celebrating the new addition to the Heineken® family by delivering the best of both worlds; engaging entertainment like in the metaverse but with 'in person' experiences and a beer you can actually drink!" Consumers will be able to get their hands on the real Heineken® Silver throughout Europe from 7 th April 2022. With a crisp flavour and a subtle finish, Heineken®Silver has a lighter drinking profile that's designed for modern taste preferences. Crafted using the same star-quality natural ingredients as Heineken®Original, it's a crystal-clear, all-round crowd pleaser that is extra fresh – for real.

Manso is confident that Heineken Silver can serve to open up a new market, rather than simply bringing existing Heineken drinkers over to the new product. Heineken Silver launched in Vietnam in 2019 and had reached 28 markets by the end of last year, including China, India and Western Europe. But to ensure success in the US, the brand is ‘brewed specifically for the American palate with a more accessible flavor profile’. With its 4% alcohol by volume (ABV), Heineken Silver is crafted with malted barley, water, and a ‘small but significant extra ingredient’, Heineken's signature A Yeast. Enjoying a crisp and refreshing lager sometimes comes at the expense of taste and quality, but beer lovers can say goodbye to compromise with the introduction of Heineken Silver," said Borja Manso Salinas, Vice President of Marketing for Heineken Brand. "It's crafted to meet the needs of a new generation of experience seekers with a lower-carb, lower-cal recipe that won't fill you up when you're getting down, making it the perfect choice for sipping at concerts, sporting events, or any occasion where friends gather to enjoy all of life's flavor."Marcel Swain, head of marketing at Heineken, expressed his pride in introducing this innovative alcoholic beverage to Africa, where beer culture is vibrant and ever-evolving. “Through distinctive the taste of Heineken Silver, we invite our consumers to savour the perfect blend of crispness and smoothness, crafted exclusively for their enjoyment. Pubs ready to attract a new customer base and to boost lager sales should sign up to the Heineken Silver® free pint giveaway. Find out more here​ ​ But this emerging segment doesn’t just present an opportunity to grow sales from existing on-trade consumers. It also has the power to attract a new group of adult drinkers. Half of Gen Y and Z consumers (18-34-year-olds) drink beer in a pub or bar, of which 25% claim that they had planned to drink more beer in pubs last year than they did 7​, as outlined in the Heineken® Beer Report 2022. So, brands that connect with these generations will help attract them into outlet. The Beer Report also shows that younger drinkers are seeking out lighter-tasting, sessionable options and within the first year of launch, Heineken Silver® is more successfully recruiting this younger generation of drinkers vs other new lager launches 8​.

The Heineken brand – which for a long time was focused solely on its flagship namesake 5.4% beer – expanded with alcohol-free Heineken 0.0 in 2019 and now has launched the lower-alcohol (4% ABV) Heineken Silver in the US. Heineken Silver has a lower ABV than the original and was designed to be accessible to more consumers and especially appealing to those who enjoy drinkable, sessionable brews without sacrificing flavor,” explains Manso. Helping bringing in those new drinkers will be a prominent place for Heineken Silver at partnership events throughout the year: including Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the US Open Tennis Championships and Formula 1 races, and it will serve as the title sponsor of the Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023 in November. The new portfolio: Heineken, Heineken 0.0, and Heineken Silver Its launch comes in light of waning interest in lager from younger generations. According to Heineken, although the lager category has grown by 34% since 2019, sales among Gen Z and Gen Y drinkers have declined by 2%, while penetration among 18-to-24-year-olds has halved over the last seven years. RSP Draught Light Lager & Draught Heineken Silver. Vol RoS of Draught Light Lager. 01.23​​ [11] CGA Value Growth 12.01.23​​

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That, the company believes, will be a winning formula: “Heineken Silver's taste profile and its premium, uncompromising quality the Heineken brand is known for, gives the new product an edge over competitors.” Lower ABV, lower carbs, lower calories

Alexander Wilson, category & commercial strategy director – off trade at Heineken UK, said: “Our research shows growing popularity for premium and lighter style drinks, particularly among Gen Y and Gen Z drinkers who are looking for better quality beverages while also moderating their alcohol intake. As lager under-indexes with Gen Y and Gen Z drinkers, the opportunity is to add lager to their shopping baskets. Heineken Silver offers these drinkers a more inclusive and accessible taste that also meets their needs for a more refreshing lager, opening up new opportunities to drive incremental sales for retailers.” A combination of wider consumer interest in the light lager category, alongside a demand for premium, is providing outlets with the opportunity to bolster both value and volume sales. Heineken Silver®, the recently launched premium light lager, taps not only into the increasing appetite for lighter tasting lagers, but also speaks to the consumer need for brands that are more premium; a vital trend for operators to capitalise on to grow revenue. Heineken Silver is billed as an extra-refreshing lager at 4% ABV and is made using an ice-cold brewing process at -1°C for “a crisp flavour and subtle finish”, with a low bitterness of 10 IBUS (International Bitterness Units) offering a lighter drinking profile. Heineken Silver aims to deliver a “premium offering and a more accessible taste that will drive appeal and sales among younger adult drinkers”. An additional one million HLS sales opportunity has been identified by Heineken for the wider launch of Heineken Silver, which will be made available in 14 countries this year including the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy and the Netherlands. Heineken 0.0 continues to grow and already represents around 7% of the franchise in the US,” he notes.Heineken hopes to reinvigorate the lager category for Gen Y and Gen Z drinkers with the launch of Heineken Silver. The product will be prominently featured at Heineken's famous partnership events throughout the year, including Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the US Open Tennis Championships and Formula 1 races, and it will serve as the title sponsor of the much-anticipated Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023 in November. Making the event even more exciting was the addition of For Real Tokens (FRTs), collectible art pieces created in partnership with prominent visual artist from Spain, J. Demsky. These FRTs are Heineken®'s sarcastic play on the NFT culture blending the physical and digital worlds to gift people with a limited-edition artwork, to remind them that some moments are best experienced in the real world.