Beer giants are laying off staff and shutting down breweries—can they no longer hold on?

Recently, Heineken Group’s 2025 financial report revealed a seemingly contradictory picture: on one hand, resilient profitability; on the other, workforce reductions, closure of low-capacity breweries, and a downward revision of profit forecasts. Yet this juxtaposition precisely outlines the strategic trade-offs made by the world’s second-largest beer manufacturer amid an industry-wide winter—and reflects the broader challenges confronting the global beer sector. The Truth Behind the Layoffs According to the report, Heineken’s net income in 2025 reached €28.89 billion under the BEIA metric (excluding special items and amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets), representing organic growth of 1.6%; operating profit stood at €4.385 billion, up 4.4% organically, with operating margin improving by 41 basis points to 15.2%; diluted earnings per share amounted to €4.78, up 3.6% year-on-year. Against the backdrop of sluggish global consumer recovery, these figures underscore Heineken’s operational resilience. Yet this resilience does not stem from volume growth—but rather from dual levers: pricing strategy and cost control. The report indirectly indicates that Heineken’s net revenue per hectoliter rose by 3.8% for the year, effectively offsetting pressure from declining sales volumes. Meanwhile, through a series of cost-optimization initiatives, the company achieved over €500 million in gross cost savings (before deducting implementation costs), successfully shielding itself from persistent inflationary pressures. In contrast, Heineken’s global total beer volume declined by 1.2% year-on-year: consolidated volume fell by 2.1%, while only licensed volume surged 17.8%, highlighting clear pressure on its core proprietary business. Notably, in Q4 2025, Heineken’s beer volume dropped 1.7% year-on-year, and full-year volume declined 1.2%. In its European home market—the core battleground—volume plunged 3.4% for the year. Alongside these results, Heineken announced two major measures that drew intense market attention: cutting 5,000–6,000 jobs globally over the next two years, and lowering its 2026 operating profit growth forecast to 2%–6%, sharply narrowing from last year’s projection of 4%–8%. This layoff represents roughly 5.6%–6.7% of Heineken’s global workforce of 89,000 employees, to be implemented gradually between 2026 and 2027 as part of structural restructuring. Heineken pledged support for affected employees, though specific regions or departments involved remain undisclosed. The layoffs likely stem from two primary drivers: first, responding to slowing global beer demand—consumers in Europe and parts of Asia have grown increasingly rational, resulting in overall sluggish growth across the global beer category in 2025; second, optimizing operational efficiency via digitalizing supply chains, closing some inefficient breweries, and expanding its Global Business Services (HBS) centers—with an annual target of €400–500 million in cost savings. Founded in 1863, Heineken Group is the world’s second-largest beer manufacturer, distributing products to over 170 countries and regions. In China, Heineken has long pursued a strategic partnership with CR Beer. In 2025, its core brands performed impressively: Heineken® Original and Heineken® Silver (Heineken Star Silver) both achieved double-digit growth, while Amstel brand volume doubled—driven by high-profile sponsorships including the Shanghai F1 Grand Prix and the ATP Tennis Masters, as well as synergies with CR Beer in channel deployment.

With the World Cup expanding dramatically, why are beer stocks plunging? Who, exactly, did Heineken—‘bitter like traditional Chinese medicine’—intoxicate?

On platforms such as Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book), numerous longtime enthusiasts have posted in-depth comparisons between Dutch-imported and domestically produced Heineken. One consumer noted that the Dutch-imported version exudes a pronounced hop aroma, finishes cleanly with a pleasant aftertaste; whereas the domestic version smells strongly of tea, sweet malt, and alcohol—a complex blend—and leaves behind a rich, lingering ‘rice-like’ flavor and overall muddled mouthfeel. The contrast is stark. Similarly, another consumer shared a disappointing experience: several years ago, he tried the domestically produced Heineken Star Silver and was overwhelmed by an intense, persistent bitterness that left him deeply disillusioned with the brand. Only later, upon trying the 5L ‘Iron Giant’ variant and canned imported Heineken—both brewed in the Netherlands—did he discover their crisp, pure malt aroma. Indeed, e-commerce platform flagship stores confirm that these highly rated ‘Iron Giant’ and canned imported products are indeed sourced from the Netherlands. This ‘same-brand, different-quality’ consumer experience is quietly eroding Heineken’s brand moat. Consumers pay a premium for Heineken precisely because they trust its consistent, international, standardized quality. Once the perception that ‘domestic versions are inferior to imports’ becomes entrenched in consumers’ minds, Heineken’s hard-won premium pricing power will rapidly evaporate. An even graver challenge stems from the collapse of its global stronghold. According to Heineken Group’s 2025 performance report, its global total beer volume declined 1.2% year-on-year, while revenue fell 4.7% to €34.26 billion—marking its second consecutive year of decline. Facing this crisis, Heineken has lowered its 2026 growth outlook and announced global layoffs of 5,000–6,000 employees over the next two years. Although Heineken achieved nearly 20% volume growth in China in 2025—on a high base—making it the most solid ‘safe haven’ within Heineken’s global portfolio, such counter-cyclical growth is far from an impregnable insurance policy. Today’s Chinese consumers are growing ever more discerning; if reputational cracks continue widening, even the strongest international halo effect will ultimately be undone by scathing reviews declaring ‘it just doesn’t taste good.’ CR Beer’s Internal Wounds: Beer Volume Has Peaked; Price Per Kilo-Liter Is Lowest Across the Industry In China, Heineken is no longer a lone foreign player. Since CR Beer formally acquired Heineken’s China operations in 2019, this green-bottle icon has become the spearhead of CR Beer’s ‘premiumization strategy.’ Yet Heineken’s solo breakthrough in China fails to mask the deep operational quagmire engulfing its parent company, CR Beer. Financial statements reveal the true pain points of this domestic beer giant. In 2025, CR Beer reported total revenue of RMB 37.985 billion, down 1.68% year-on-year; attributable profit to shareholders stood at RMB 3.371 billion, plunging 28.87% year-on-year—marking CR Beer’s second straight year of simultaneous declines in both revenue and net profit. A deeper dive into its core beer business reveals that although beer revenue held steady at RMB 36.489 billion and volume reached approximately 11.03 million kiloliters—up a mere 1.4% year-on-year—the signs of exhaustion and stagnation are unmistakable. The more critical vulnerability lies in ‘price per kiloliter.’ Price per kiloliter is the definitive hard metric for gauging a beer company’s pricing power, product mix upgrade, and authenticity of premiumization.

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