On my way to work, it suddenly stood out: a bright green boat from Zoevcity with a giant beer tank on the Geldersekade. Could it be? Is Amsterdam getting a Heineken beer boat? The answer is yes.
The Historic Amsterdam Districts
The bridges and quay walls in the Wallen and Lastage neighborhoods are fragile and are increasingly stressed by heavy and frequent traffic. This leads to unsafe conditions and negatively impacts the area’s livability. The city faces the challenge of keeping this historic district safe, accessible, and livable—now and into the future. That requires clear and sometimes tough decisions.
As part of the City of Amsterdam’s Urban Logistics Program, long-term measures are being explored to sustainably improve the logistics situation in the Wallen and Lastage areas. Waterborne freight is a natural option.
Alderman Melanie van der Horst (Transport) explains: “This pilot with Heineken is a great opportunity to explore how we can better organize beer deliveries to bars and restaurants. I hope other companies will join us in thinking about smarter solutions.”
Heineken’s Approach
As Carl van der Wielen from Heineken told Het Parool: “This isn’t a major emissions breakthrough for us — we already deliver emission-free in the city center.”
When heavy trucks were banned from central Amsterdam in 2022, Heineken quickly transitioned to electric mini-trucks. That shift wasn’t minor — they had previously delivered beer with 12,000-liter trucks. The solution? A dedicated beer hub at the CTPark logistics center in the Port of Amsterdam. There, beer arrives at night from the Den Bosch brewery and is delivered to the city center the same day by mini-trucks.
But this system had a downside: the mini-trucks made constant round-trips between the hub and downtown — twenty minutes each way. By switching to waterborne delivery, Heineken now avoids hundreds of road kilometers daily in the city. Next week, a new pilot with a barge operating from Appeltjesmarkt on the city’s west side will launch.
CTPark Cityhub
To operate more efficiently and sustainably, Heineken opened a dedicated beer hub in December at the multi-level CTPark Cityhub XL on the western edge of Amsterdam. Located along the Hemhaven waterway, just two kilometers from the city center and near Zaandam, it’s a strategic base for faster, cleaner deliveries to local bars and restaurants.
Heineken already uses light electric vehicles for deliveries in several other city centers, and other brewers are starting to follow suit. However, Heineken remains a front-runner in deploying electric trucks for urban logistics.
Walther Ploos van Amstel