The executive is paying the price for headwinds that have now become structural across the alcohol sector - beer in particular - starting with an uninterrupted decline in volumes in European and American markets.
Like AB InBev, two decades ago Heineken embarked on an aggressive external-growth strategy towards emerging countries, where, by contrast, volumes were rising alongside purchasing power - in other words, quickly - notably in Africa.
The corollary that it had to - and still must - contend with the volatility of local economies, weak currencies, a host of operational challenges whose nature is easy to imagine, as well as recurring problems of tax harassment and political instability.
In this respect, Dolf van den Brink continued the strategy of his predecessor Jean-François van Boxmeer, with between €5bn and €6bn spent on acquisitions, including the purchase of South Africa's Distell and Costa Rica's FIFCO.
Unfortunately, these transactions did not give profits the boost that shareholders had been hoping for. And since Heineken has historically traded at high valuation multiples - too high - a sharp contraction in multiples was to be feared at the first setback.
On the stockmarket, the share price has returned to the level it was at ten years ago. That is hardly surprising, since, adjusted for inflation, the group's profit has not changed over the period either.
Unofficially shown the door this morning, it is not certain Dolf van den Brink could have done anything to reverse the trend.
