Today, Dutch brewer Heineken announced plans to lay off up to 7% of its workforce as it seeks to improve efficiency through AI-driven productivity savings, following weak beer sales in 2025.
In its FY2025 earnings release today, Heineken reported that total beer volumes decreased by 2.4%, while adjusted operating profit increased by 4.4%.
Heineken CEO, Dolf van den Brink, told investors, “In 2025, we delivered a resilient and well-balanced performance. We gained share, drove cost and cash productivity, and increased investment behind our brands. Combined with agility and our advantaged footprint, this helped us navigate volatility and deliver within our guidance range. We reinforced our footprint through the acquisition of FIFCO in Central America, our largest acquisition in more than a decade, positioning us even more strongly for growth in the future.”
Moving forward, “As EverGreen 2025 concludes, we have made meaningful progress and advanced major transformations that strengthen our fundamentals. EverGreen 2030 builds on this with a sharper strategy, clearer resource allocation, and a stronger focus on value creation. Now we pivot to the disciplined execution of EverGreen 2030. Our first priority is to accelerate growth, funded by stepped up productivity and operating model changes that will involve a significant cost intervention over the next two years. This will unlock stronger people productivity and enable greater speed and efficiency. At the same time, we remain prudent in our near-term expectations for beer market conditions.”
In 2026, Heineken intends to:
- Increase investment in growth focused on global brands, faster innovation and sharper execution.
- Accelerate productivity at scale to unlock significant savings, reducing 5,000 to 6,000 roles over next two years.
- Integrate FIFCO beverage and retail businesses in Central America, expected to be immediately accretive to EPS.
- Increase FY2026 operating profit to grow by 2% to 6%.
Van den Brink told reporters, the job cuts come “partly also due to AI, or let’s say digitization.”
Heineken shares rose 3.4% following the announcement.
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
