In 1914 Heineken's managers decided to export beer to the United States. Gerald Heineken's son Henri, who was running the firm at the time, sailed to the United States to set up the operation. On board the ship, he met a young bartender named Leo van Munching. Impressed with van Munching's knowledge of beer, Heineken contracted with him to import and distribute the firm's products in North America under the name Van Munching & Company. Despite Heineken's success, it ceased its U.S. operations during Prohibition. After Prohibition's repeal in 1933, it reestablished those operations, again granting Van Munching & Company of New York exclusive rights to import Heineken products into the United States After World War II, Henri Heineken sent his son, Alfred, to New York to study marketing and advertising from Van Munching. Alfred returned to the Netherlands in 1948 with knowledge he used to help launch Heineken into other foreign markets worldwide.