Heineken main brewery turns 40

Heineken's biggest brewery turned 40 years old this month. The brewery is responsible for production of Heineken and Amstel for domestic and international consumption. The current production capacity of the factory is 1.35 billion liters per year, according to a feature in AD.

The brewery is located in Zoeterwoude, a village near Leiden. Though it currently is responsible for two-thirds of the entire Heineken beer supply, at the early years of its existence, it used to produce about a tenth of its current capacity.

The Zoeterwoude brewery was opened April 18, 1975, by Prince Bernhard. Construction work for the brewery cost around 200 million guilders at the time. It replaced the Crooswijk facility near Rotterdam, and two locations in Amsterdam.

The brewery is currently running close to its full capacity. It has the surface area of 110 football fields and contains 7.5 kilometers of road on its premises. The facility employs 1700 out of 2700 Dutch workers of the company.

Since the founding of the factory, Heineken has grown to become one of the largest brewing companies in the world. It currently owns 190 breweries in 70 countries and employs 85,000 people around the world.