Heineken today opened a new brewery in Meoqui, Chihuahua, Mexico with a yearly capacity of 6 million hectoliters. The plant located in in Meoqui, Chihuahua, is the company's seventh in Mexico and with a US$500 million investment the largest greenfield project in the company's history. It will produce brands such as Tecate, Dos Equis and Heineken for the Mexican market as well as for export.
Environmental sustainability has been central to the design of the new brewery. The Meoqui brewery operates following circular economy principles. It will use 100% renewable electricity. The windows in the brewery, for example, contain photovoltaic cells that will create approximately 12% of the electricity for the site. The remainder will come from wind power.
The brewery will also have a wastewater treatment plant, which will allow the use of biogas in boilers and reuse treated water for the cleaning of shared facilities and the irrigation of green spaces. The Meoqui brewery will be Heineken's most water efficient brewery globally and is aiming to use just two liters of water for every liter of beer produced by 2020.
Jean-François van Boxmeer, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Heineken said: "Mexico is an important market for Heineken. With a developing economy, a rich geographical and demographic diversity and a flourishing beer sector, we see great additional potential here. I am proud that the Meoqui brewery will be one of our biggest and 'greenest' breweries showcasing our long-term commitment to the country, the region and the environment."
Mexico is the most important operation for Heineken. In 2016 the company’s Mexican operations contributed 16% of the volume, 12% of revenues and 15% of profits of the Dutch multinational. Dolf van den Brink, President and CEO of Cuahutémoc Moctezuma / Heineken Mexico explained the importance of the Mexican market and said that his company has grown in recent years by 4.0 percent in volume, 8.0 percent in income and 16 percent in profits.
Heineken became a leading player on the Mexican market on 11 January 2010, when Heineken International and Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. (FEMSA), a Mexican multinational beverage and retail company announced the sale of FEMSA’s beer activities in exchange for a 20% economic interest in Heineken. The deal, valued at valued $7.6 billion, included FEMSA’s Mexican beer business with a 43% market share of the Mexican beer market at that time and a 9% beer market share in Brazil, making Heineken one of the leading breweries in Latin America. The transaction made FEMSA, which is headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico, the second biggest shareholder in the Dutch company.
