Brazil: Heineken to invest R$1.5 billion to expand premium beer lines

Multinational Dutch brewer Heineken has announced that the company is to invest R$1.5 billion ($243 million) to expand its premium beer operations in Brazil’s Northeast region.

According to an article in Exame, the group is planning to allocate the investment to its Igarassu (Pernambuco) and Alagoinhas (Bahia) plants. The investment will enable the Igarassu plant to triple production capacity for the Amstel and Devassa brands, in addition to increasing production on its reusable packaging lines by 45%. The Alagoinhas facility will receive additional resources to increase manufacture of Heineken branded beer by 60%.

Mauricio Giamellaro, CEO of Heineken Brasil, commented: “We are allocating part of the volume we already have in other breweries to [Alagoinhas], in order to gain geographic efficiency. The factory will supply the entire North and Northeast regions”.

Recent growth has reportedly seen Brazil become the leading market for the Heineken brand globally by sales, up from just 17th five years ago.

Source: Exame