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Divico Sales Manager Shyam Rambhadjan and Heineken Brand Manager Tanvi Goklani with Lily Wathey, and the Nowhere Special team. Nowhere Special is a participating outlet in the Meet you at the Bar initiative.
COLE BAY--Heineken and DIVICO Distributors have launched a new initiative to support St. Maarten/St. Martin’s bars and restaurants’ recovery from their COVID-19 closures.
The initiative “Meet You At The Bar”, is a local platform aimed at easing the effects of the economic hardship created by the pandemic.
Meet You At The Bar supports supermarkets, bars and restaurants by providing product support and by driving foot traffic to these outlets that have currently reopened. The platform branches from Heineken’s initiative to allocate resources to help reignite the bar ecosystem that has been shut down by the pandemic, it was stated in a press release on Wednesday.
Worldwide, Heineken has launched a “Back the Bars” initiative which is a similar programme aimed at supporting the restaurant and bar industry in over in 17 countries, each tailored to their own markets.
Meet You At The Bar encourages consumers to purchase a specially marked pack of Heineken at participating supermarkets, where they will then receive one “bar buck” – a specially designed coupon – that is redeemable for one beer from the Heineken portfolio at various local bars/restaurants.
Heineken and DIVICO, will also be providing support to the bars and restaurants through product, marketing materials, social-media templates, and general communications of the participating bars/restaurants. The initiative also aims to encourage consumers to support their favourite outlets, while respecting social- distancing guidelines.
Meet You At The Bar intends to stay close to trade customers by supporting their restart efforts, and remaining close to consumers by showing responsiveness.
Heineken Brand Manager Tanvi Goklani said the platform was inspired by global initiatives that are dedicating resources to jumpstart local markets. “The food and beverage sector is at the heart of the beer industry, and it is important for us to provide support not only in a tangible way, but by also encouraging our consumers to consciously support the local economy,” said Goklani.
“By providing consumers the opportunity to have a beer on us, we hope the gesture brings comfort in slowly socialising again. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many of our customers (on trade) to a difficult place, and while Heineken remains a responsible brand, we are reminding everyone to socialise responsibly and follow all social-distancing guidelines.”
Divico Sales Manager Shyam Rambhadjan added that the “Meet You At The Bar” initiative highlights the value that the food and beverage industry brings not only to the local, but tourism economy as well.
“We are facing some difficult times, and these on trade outlets are highly valued partners where we must dedicate the effort to support the economy. We at DIVCO are thankful to all the bars and supermarkets that agreed to partake in this initiative, and certainly hope to ‘Meet You At The Bar’,” he said.
For more information and a list of participating outlets in Meet You At The Bar, visit www.divico.shop, for participation please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call tel. 587-2337.
