Cervecería y Maltería Quilmes, beer market leader in Argentina, inaugurated a new can production line at its Godoy Cruz plant with a capacity to produce 72,000 units per hour. This substantial investment not only enhances their manufacturing capabilities but also enables the local production of the renowned Stella Artois brand. The newly established production line sprawls across an area of over 3,000 square meters, representing a substantial USD 10 million commitment.
This state-of-the-art can production line will facilitate the packaging of various beer brands, including Quilmes Clásica, Brahma, Andes Origen, and Stella Artois, in 473 cc sizes, available in both six and four-can packaging formats.
AB InBev is not the only brewing group that has announced investments in Argentina. Heineken, represented by its partially owned Chilean subsidiary Compañía Cervecerías Unidas (CCU), also announced investments totaling USD 23 million last year. This investment marked the second phase of a larger investment package that began two years prior with an initial investment of USD 57 million. Both programs aimed to enhance manufacturing, packaging, and logistics capacity.(inside.beer, 6.5.2022)
Cervecería y Maltería Quilmes was founded in 1880 as Brasserie et Cervecerie Quilmes. It was formally inaugurated ten years later, on the 31st of October of 1890, with the presentation in society of the first Quilmes chop. The sense of identity and responsibility between Cervecería y Maltería Quilmes and the city where it was founded was not a coincidence, but a purpose of the brewery founder, Otto Bemberg. He understood that his company would only have a future if it played an active role in the local community.
What started as a brewery continued expanding to the agroindustrial sector. Cervecería y Maltería Quilmes is also involved in the growing of hops and barley in its fields of Tres Arroyos and Cipolletti.
In 2002, Cervecería y Maltería Quilmes formed a strategic alliance with Ambev that became formalized with a combination in April 2006. Since the merger of Interbrew from Belgium and Ambev from Brasil and the later addition of Anheuser Busch from the United States, the Argentinian operations are now part of the world’s largest brewing group.
The company is headquartered in Buenos Aires and operates five breweries, one microbrewery in Patagonia, six soft drinks plants, a hops farm and a barley farm. Since 2020, Quilmes also owns Bodega Dante Robino, a winery with 130 years of history in the country and a total capacity of 39,000 hectoliters of wine. (inside.beer, 19.2.2020)
In 2022, the company achieved exports valued at USD 421 million for barley, malt, and finished products. Notably, since 2019, Cervecería y Maltería Quilmes has been the first consumer goods company to transition to 100% renewable energy through a 20-year partnership with Central Puerto. Furthermore, in 2022, it announced its commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2040, underscoring its enduring dedication to the country.
Argentina's beer production industry forms an extensive value chain, providing employment to over 130,000 individuals and spanning from agricultural cultivation to the final product. In recent years, Argentina has solidified its regional presence, emerging as the leading supplier of barley and malt in South America and securing a position among the top 10 export complexes in the nation.
Juan Mitjans, Director of Public Affairs at Cervecería y Maltería Quilmes, emphasized the significance of this endeavor within the company's broader investment strategy for the country. He underscored the focus on import substitution and bolstering local production. Mendoza, a province of paramount importance to the company in Argentina, has been a steadfast presence for over a century. Mitjans expressed their belief in substantial investment potential in the region, envisioning continued growth while championing the beer agro-industry with a productive and national outlook.
