Malteurop, one of the world’s leading malting companies with 1,100 employees based in 30 locations in 13 countries announced today the construction of a new malt house in Meoqui, Chihuahua state, in the North of Mexico. According to the announcement, the first stone was laid on Monday and the plant with an annual production capacity of 120,000 tons will be operational in the second half of 2021.
Heineken, which opened last year the largest greenfield brewery in its history with 6 million hectoliters at an adjacent site in Meoqui (inside.beer, 27.2.2018) will be one of the main customers for the new malt house. The company owns 7 breweries and bottling plants in Mexico and one malt plant.
Olivier Parent, who became CEO of Malteurop in July 2017, confirms that “part of the plant capacity could be available to other local brewers who will benefit from our new barley supply chain and malting facility in Mexico. We are proud that we can support and boost the growth of the Mexican beer industry. As well, we believe the Mexican government is committed to sustainable growth and development through foreign direct investment in the Agriculture Sector. We look forward to partnering with all stakeholders in order to make this project a success.”
“For Heineken Mexico, this project is a pillar that will boost the growth of our industry, in full alignment with our permanent commitment of contributing to the economic development of Mexico and the state of Chihuahua. We will reduce dependency on imported raw materials, since at least 90% of our barley will be of national origin,” says Etienne Strijp, CEO of Heineken Mexico.
“We have a strong commitment with Mexican farmers and with sustainability and we are sure that we have found in Malteurop an ideal partner that shares our vision and that will definitely contribute with the northern region development. Now as our local ally, together we will continue brewing a better Mexico.” adds, Alberto Máynez, Procurement Director at Heineken Mexico.
For Olivier Parent “this project, integrated in our strategic plan Shaping 2022, goes beyond the construction of a malt house on a new territory. It requires to create a whole procurement system upstream, to build partnerships with local farmers and to support them in the malting barley production.”
And Alain Caekaert, Chief Commercial, Innovation and Procurement Officer, adds: “Mexico is a key country for our industry, as its beer market is particularly dynamic, with a production of 120 million hectoliters in 2018, of which 80 are consumed locally and 40 go to export markets.”
Since inauguration of the massive expansion from 80,000 to 200,000 tons of its only malt house in Australia in Geelong near Melbourne at a cost of AUD 85 million (USD 61.3m) the new greenfield malt house in Mexico marks Malteurop’s next large investment in the last years (inside.beer, 28.9.2018).
Malteurope is part of Vivescia, an international, cooperative farming and food processing group, with 7,500 employees in 24 countries, generating revenue of EUR 3.2 billion. Specializing in producing and adding value to grain through food applications, Vivescia is owned by 11,000 farmers from the north-east of France.
