Rosé beers major success in the Dutch beer market

One of the major success stories in the Dutch beer market in terms of innovation was the launch of rosé beer. 'White beer' (Hoegaarden, Wieckse Witte) has been popular for many years now. The major brewers have recognised the potential of white beer as an interesting opportunity to attract young women to the sector.

In the wine sector, rosé wines have outperforming other types of wine for years now and these pink wines have managed to convert mainly young women to wine. The major white beer brewers in The Netherlands recognised that this model could also work for the beer sector. This is why the major white beer brands such as Hoegaarden (Inbev) and Wieckse Witte (Heineken) have launched a new variety of beer called Rosé beer.

This Rosé beer can be characterised as a fresh and sweet tasting beer with red fruits which gives it a pink color. Both major white beer brands, Hoegaarden and Wieckse Witte, were successful with their launches in the off-trade in 2007. The success of Hoegaarden was short lived though as the problems in their Belgian brewing facilities, meant that Inbev could not always supply retailers with this new product.

Rosé beer is becoming a popular summer drink and seems to be one of the few initiatives by the Dutch brewers that has managed to attract new female consumers.