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Have you ever heard about Birra Messina? It’s one of the many historical Italian local beers that over the years have gained a reputation throughout the country. Birra Messina was founded in 1923 as an independent brewery (originally called “Birra Trinacria”), but in 1988 it was bought by Heineken, which continued to brew and sell it with its name. Over the years the production was moved from the Sicilian town to the plants of the Dutch corporation which are scattered throughout the Italian peninsula (Massafra, Aosta, Bergamo, Cagliari). At this point you’d be asking yourself: what Birra Messina has to do with a product that is brewed somewhere else?

The same question arose to Confconsumatori (an Italian consumers’ association), which decided to defy the Dutch corporation, pointing out an improper use of the mark to the Market & Competition Authority. As you can read on the online newspaper Tempo Stretto, the Provincial President of Confconsumatori Fulvio Capria explained the initiative in this way:

We addressed to the Authority to ask the inhibition of the use of the mark Birra Messina by Heineken SpA and to end such free use of a trade name that uses the city name improperly and misleadingly. We are convinced of the legitimacy of the complaint and confident of the success of the same, comforted by previous rulings issued by the European Court of Justice.

The accusation against Heineken appears to be beyond criticism, so it seems we just have to wait for the verdict of the Authority, which could deal a severe blow to the image of the Dutch corporation.

The situation for Heineken is no better in Switzerland, where Dutch compelled the withdrawal of Keineken beer, as you may read on Laurent Mousson and Roger Protz’s blogs.