Obituary: Piero Perron, former President of The Brewers of Europe and Assobirra

For over 40 years, Piero Perron was one of the figureheads of Italy’s brewing industry. He was President of Heineken Italia, the market leader with brands like Birra Moretti, Cruzcampo, Dreher, Heineken, Ichnusa and Mc Farland.

After having directed the domestic brewer Industrie Poretti in the 1970s, in 1985 he was appointed by Carlsberg to direct Union Cervecera, which it had just acquired in Spain. Returning to Italy in the 1990s, he became CEO of Birra Moretti and then of Heineken Italia, where he succeeded at turning Moretti into a national brand and re-organising distribution.

From 2000 to 2003, he was back in Spain where he oversaw the new company Heineken España, which was formed after the merger of brewers El Águila and Cruzcampo, and soon became one of the group’s best performing companies.

From 2002 to 2006 he was President of The Brewers of Europe, an industry group. From 2008 to 2011 he also chaired Conai, Italy’s National Packaging Consortium. From 2006 to 2011 he was Head of Assobirra, Italy’s association of brewers.

Pierre-Olivier Bergeron, Secretary General of The Brewers of Europe, honoured Mr Perron by saying that he laid down the foundations of today’s Brewers of Europe. It was under his chairmanship and with his personal dedication that the number of national associations supporting The Brewers of Europe doubled within just a few years. Moreover, he made sure that its governance was modernised, that its finances were organised and that the social responsibility of Europe’s brewing sector became a crucial topic at the heart of the organisation’s strategy.

Mr Perron was an active delegate until the end of last year and rarely missed any General Assembly meetings. Not only was he a strong believer in The Brewers of Europe, he equally saw the national associations as crucial stakeholders in the defence of beer and the brewing sector, Mr Bergeron said.

Mr Perron died suddenly on 25 October 2018, aged 76.