Photo: Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Heineken.
What: Mexican beer Tecate will be sold in 70 markets worldwide.
Why it matters: Because Heineken is building a new 7 billion peso plant in the northern state of Chihuahua, slated to start operations by the end of 2017. The plant will produce the Tecate Light, Tecate original, XX, and XX Light brands, in addition to several other beers to be exported to the United States.
Heineken announced that it will integrate Mexican beer Tecate into its international brand portfolio, expanding its reach to 70 countries. It will become the second Mexican brand to be launched globally by the Dutch company after Sol, which was the first to go international.
Dolf van den Brink, CEO and President of Heineken Mexico, highlighted Tecate’s good reception in international markets.
“Tecate is already Heineken’s second world brand by size, and as of this year will become part of our international portfolio. As of now, Tecate is already sold in 17 countries, but we are looking to position the brand in many more markets—this is a great moment for the brand,” said van den Brink.
The company recently launched Tecate in the Colombian market. However, no details regarding which new countries the brand would be positioned in during 2017 were disclosed.
The company announced at a press conference that the new Heineken plant, located in the state of Chihuahua, is already 50 percent built, and is slated to begin operations by the end of 2017. The new plant will increase Heineken’s production volume in the country by 15 percent.
“The Meoqui plant (in Chihuahua) has a capacity of 6 million hectoliters, which will expand our production capacity by 15 percent in the coming years. Mexico already represents 15 percent of the Heineken Group, and this new plant will make up 15 percent of that 15 percent,” said van den Brink.
Construction on the plant began at the end of 2015, with an investment of more than 7 billion pesos, and is part of the brewery’s plan to generate US $2 billion between 2015 and 2019 in the country, double that of the previous five years.
“It’s the largest (Heineken) plant in America and the world. We’ve never built such a large plant in any other country before and we hope to start operations by the end of this year—that was our first commitment,” said Van den Brink.
Photo: Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Heineken.
