Argentina: AB InBev buys Dante Robino Winery

Cervecería y Maltería Quilmes, a subsidiary of ABInBev in Argentina, has signed an agreement to acquire Dante Robino Winery, a winery in the Perdriel area of Luján de Cuyo in Argentina. The sale which terms have not been disclosed includes the whole product portfolio including sparkling and non-sparkling wines, the winery’s 5 ha estate and the vineyards. All 74 jobs will be retained.

“We are a company with 130 years of history in the country. We have a long-term vision and commitment to Argentina. Despite the harsh economic context of the country and facing two years of significant volume decline in our business, we do not speculate, but instead take risks and invest, produce and generate quality employment throughout the country, ”said Martín Ticinese president of Cervecería y Maltería Quilmes.

“The acquisition is part of the company’s plan to better understand and study the wine segment and to continue with the growth of the company’s brand portfolio,” a spokesperson from AB InBev told the drinks business. Quilmes intends to double the market share in Argentina from currently 1% to 2% within the next two years.

The move seems consistent with AB InBev’s ongoing diversification of its business. Argentina is the fifth-largest wine-producing country in the world and is “becoming increasingly well-known for the outstanding quality - and incredible affordability - of its premium wines,” as the winerist put it.

Quilmes was founded as a small brewery in 1880 and runs today 5 industrial breweries, a microbrewery in Patagonia (inside.beer, 10.4.2019), 6 soft drinks plants, a hops farm and a barley farm as well as 9 distribution centers and 9 sales offices. In 2002, Cervecería y Maltería Quilmes formed a strategic alliance with Ambev that became formalized with a combination in April 2006.

Bodega Dante Robino has a total wine capacity of 39,000 hectoliters of wine with about twice the cellar capacity. The company sells its products under the Dante Robino, Capriccio, Novecento and Atelier brands and exports around 30% of its production to 40 markets. The company is not related to the Capriccio Sangria portfolio of products which are bottled and marketed by Caribbean Distillers, a US-based company headquartered in Florida.

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