HEINEKEN Vietnam today announced the appointment of Wietse Mutters as Managing Director, succeeding Alexander Koch, who takes up the position of Managing Director HEINEKEN Italy, effective 1 August 2024.
Wietse Mutters started his career with HEINEKEN in 2008. Since May 2020, he has been the Managing Director of HEINEKEN Italy, where he has successfully increased market share, revenue and operating profit for the company. Mutters has effectively developed HEINEKEN Italy’s product portfolio and introduced multiple innovations to the market. At the helm of the company, he was instrumental in the transformation of HEINEKEN Italy’s digital strategy and the strengthening of the team’s winning culture.
Prior to leading HEINEKEN Italy, Mutters was Managing Director of BRANA S.A. in Haiti. Before that, he held several senior commercial roles, both in country and at the regional level – in the Netherlands, Macedonia, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mutters’ predecessor Alexander Koch meanwhile has closed his 6-year tenure in Vietnam, first as Commercial Director in 2018 and then as Managing Director since 2020. Under Koch’s leadership, HEINEKEN Vietnam has further strengthened its position in the market, with an expanded route to consumers and a broadened product portfolio to better serve Vietnamese drinkers, including game-changing innovations like Heineken® Silver, Bia Viet and Larue Smooth.
During this term, Koch also successfully led the HEINEKEN Vietnam team through some major headwinds, including Covid and the volatility in the business context, out of which the team has shown great resilience and a strong ability to transform to stay ready for a changing future. At the same time, Koch was passionately advancing HEINEKEN Vietnam’s agenda for sustainability and responsibility, which he firmly believes are central to how HEINEKEN Vietnam runs the business.
“I have had the honor of working with a team full of passion, determination, and agility – the driving force behind HEINEKEN Vietnam’s growth from strength to strength. It has been my privilege also to have worked with our partners and customers in a strong win-win relationship, which has been fundamental to HEINEKEN Vietnam’s success over the years,” Koch says while reflecting on his journey of six years in Vietnam. “Toward the future, I am confident that the team will continue to thrive under Mutters’ leadership,” adds Koch.
“I am honored and humbled at the exciting assignment ahead – leading the winning HEINEKEN Vietnam team through the next chapter of growth. Despite the challenges that remain, Vietnam will continue to be a potential and growth market for HEINEKEN,” says Mutters. “I have full confidence in the strength and resilience of the team, and truly look forward to working together with our team and people, our partners and customers as well as the communities we are in to continue creating shared value, prosperity and growth,” reiterates Mutters.
