Significant changing of the guard at Heineken Italia: after four years Wietse Mutters leaves the role of CEO to lead Heineken Vietnam. Replacing him, starting from next August 1st, will be Alexander Koch , with a long career in the Dutch group, who, in exactly one month, will leave his role as CEO of the Vietnamese branch of Heineken.

In his four years in the role, Mutters further strengthened Heineken's position in the Italian market, increasing share, turnover and operating profit. He developed Heineken Italia's strong portfolio and introduced innovations, strengthening successful local brands such as Ichnusa, Birra Messina and Birra Moretti. He led Partesa's digital transformation and consolidated the company's winning culture, focusing on the growth of organizational Leadership and Empowerment.

“In these years at the helm of Heienken Italia I have had the honor of working with a team full of passion, professionalism and determination, which has allowed the company to grow and strengthen its leadership in a dynamic and challenging context,” he declared Mutters . “I thank the people of Heineken Italia for the trust shown in me and for the ability to always act as a united and determined team to overcome every challenge, always achieving excellent results and consolidating the winning culture of our company. A special thank you to all our customers with whom we have built solid and successful relationships and who have been the basis of our success on the market. I am sure that Alexander will be able to continue this growth path, leading the team towards further great successes."

For his part, Koch boasts a very long career at Heineken, where he joined in October 1997, as an intern in Commercial Management. Among the most important positions already held: Commercial Director of Bralirwa (Rwanda) from 2007 to 2011. Koch joined Heineken Vietnam in 2018 as commercial director, becoming CEO two years later. Under his leadership, despite the volatile and turbulent external environment, Heineken Vietnam has grown further, strengthening its position to become the market leader, thanks to a much broader portfolio and brand growth strategy.

“Heineken is a company that has invested heavily in Italian brands,” said Koch , thus contributing to the growth of the market and the development of beer culture in Italy. I am enthusiastic about the role and happy to take up the baton to continue growing guided by our EverGreen strategy.”