E-Malt.com News article: Brazil: Heineken launches Amstel 0.0 beer

Heineken’s push to encourage new consumption occasions led the company to launch Amstel 0.0 in Brazil on September 30, a non-alcoholic, gluten-free version of the “all-malt” (puro malte) beer with 59.5 calories per 350-milliliter can, Valor International reported.

The marketing vice president of Heineken in Brazil, Cecília Bottai, says the investment comes after the consolidation of the non-alcoholic segment, which is now growing beyond the premium market.

“The initial focus was to build the image of zero beer. We wanted Heineken to be the protagonist. Now the segment has started to become more ‘mainstream’ [midpriced]. It has started to grow. And people are looking for more alternatives, more affordable products in this zero segment,” Bottai said.

In Brazil, all-malt beers stand in the premium segment and, by regulation, must be brewed only with barley. Other versions can have up to 45% content brewed with corn or rice.

In the past, non-alcoholic beers were not well received by consumers, but advances in technology have changed that. For the non-alcoholic versions of Heineken and Amstel, the beer is brewed with the same recipe, while the liquid then goes through an alcohol-removal process that keeps the taste close to that of the original.

The brewer plans to distribute Amstel 0.0 in 350 ml cans across most of Brazil by 2027. The launch begins in the South and Southeast regions and in Goiás, Bahia, and Sergipe. Production of the new beer will start at the Ponta Grossa plant, in the state of Paraná.

The bet on the new version of Amstel, a brand created in Amsterdam 155 years ago, replicates a winning formula in the premium segment. While popular brands lose volume in Brazil year after year, sales of higher-value beers keep growing, supported in part by an intense focus on innovation. The premium segment accounted for about 4% of the volume sold in Brazil in 2010. Last year, it surpassed 25%.

NielsenIQ data show that the zero-alcohol beer segment grew 17.9% in volume from July 2025 to July 2026 versus the same period a year earlier, and is now in 14.4% of Brazilian households. Brazil currently delivers the group’s largest volume of Heineken 0.0 worldwide.

By contrast, total beer production in Brazil fell 8.85% in 2025 to 15.688 million hectoliters, reflecting the weakening of popular brands, which are suffering as Brazilians’ budgets tighten. The figures are from the Beer Yearbook 2026, published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa) together with the National Beer Industry Union (Sindicerv).

It is because of this strength in zero-alcohol drinks that brewers have invested in other price tiers as well. Heineken’s main rival, AB InBev’s Ambev, has Brahma Zero as its leading brand in the “mainstream” segment, the category closest to the one where Amstel plays today.

With the move, Heineken puts a brand on the market to compete for space in consumers’ cups with its rival. The group also has a Sol Zero version today, but the brand lacks Amstel’s strength and is likewise positioned in the so-called “upper mainstream.”

Ambev, for its part, has even taken the zero-alcohol proposition to the economy segment with mass-market brand Skol.

The new Amstel version arrives amid an acceleration of innovation in the industry. In May, the group launched Heineken Ultimate, which has 97 calories (30% fewer than the regular version), is gluten-free, and has 3.5% alcohol content. Given the strong reception, Heineken expanded production of Ultimate, until then concentrated in Jacareí (São Paulo), to Ponta Grossa (Paraná) and Passos (Minas Gerais).

Ambev has also been rolling out a range of novelties to create new consumption occasions. The most recent was Spaten Pro, a new non-alcoholic drink with 10 grams of protein.

Alongside the Amstel 0.0 announcement, Heineken renewed its partnership with the CONMEBOL Libertadores on September 30 in São Paulo. The partnership celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The group did not disclose how long the agreement was extended but said it is long-term.



02 October, 2026