Heineken Exits Morocco as Local Brewer Shifts Focus to Domestic Brands

"The SBM, a company listed on the Casablanca stock exchange and the leader in beer production in Morocco, announces the expiration in December 2023 of its license agreement for the production and distribution of Heineken products and the mutual desire of the two partners not to continue this relationship," the Moroccan company said in a recent press release.

In 2022, Heineken products accounted for 17% of SBM’s sales, the note specifies, adding that this share will be recovered by the historical brands of the Castel group, "recognized" and "appreciated" by consumers since 1949. The SBM intends to continue promoting local products. It also assures that this operation "will not have an impact on the accounts for the 2023 financial year".

"For more than 100 years, we have been offering our consumers Moroccan beers brewed and bottled in our Casablanca brewery. With the full support of our shareholders and the Castel group, I am very confident in the future and in our ability to continue our growth... We will never stop satisfying our customers and defending made in Morocco," said Sébastien Yves-Ménager, CEO of the Castel group.