One in five Valencian bars customers of Heineken Spain, or more than 2,500 people, saw their establishment destroyed by the damage. This reality pushed the brewery through its brands Heineken, Cruzcampo, Amstel and El Águila to relaunch “Fuerzabar”a collaborative solidarity movement to support the hospitality industry that has already proven its effectiveness during the pandemic.
The brewery’s support plan begins with a contribution of more than 6 million euros to fill its customers’ warehouses with free products, replace damaged facilities and facilitate their reopening with economical financing.
Collectively, the affected bars will receive hundreds of thousands of free beer drinksthousands of taps, display cases and wine racks or terrace furniture such as chairs, tables and parasols, in addition to direct financial aid and reopening advice both for managing grants and for advice legal and technical.
They will do this with the help of Rerival, a company owned by the brewery and responsible for managing facilities and services for its hotel and event clients. The brewery opens its platform to collaboration with other brandswith whom he is already in talks. In addition, it will look for formulas to reactivate these companies.
Etienne Strijp, president of Heineken Spain, emphasizes that “this is only the first of a long series of initiatives to come. At Heineken Spain we are very close to the Valencian Community and we could not stand idly by in the face of this tragedy. Our “Fuerzabar” movement is an energetic response to this crisis, a tangible commitment to the recovery of Valencia through its hoteliers. “We are here to help our people and everyone affected to stand up and move forward.”
Solidarity plan
As a press release explains, Heineken Spain has directly suffered the ravages of this DANA, since around 20% of its employees work in the region in production, distribution and commercial tasks. One of the four factories it has in our country is located there, more precisely in the city of Quarter of Poblet. And it has a vast network of collaborators and clients in the field of hospitality and food, the result of more than 100 years of history that it shares with this region thanks to brands such as Amstel and El Aguila.
For this reason, the company only resumed its activity after obtaining the guarantee of being able to travel safely and offered those affected an interest-free credit line of up to 24,000 euros with a deadline of thanks to one year, up to mobility options with free rental facilities for at least the first three months. It has also made available the medical and psychological assistance it offers through its HEI Life program, which can be extended to all family members of those affected.
Likewise, it has entrusted local and regional authorities to provide support by supplying water from its plant in Valencia. And it has joined forces with its more than 90,000 employees worldwide to activate the crowdfunding platform “HEINEKEN People with Valencia”, which will be open until December 6. The brewery is committed to triple the amount collected by its employees.
Additionally, in response to his team’s concerns, he developed a special volunteer policy with three days off for anyone who wants to help those affected by DANA.
