Mexico: Fomento Economico Mexicano SA (Femsa) enters ready-to-drink spirit market

Mexico's Femsa, Latin America's top bottler and brewer, said August 22 it launched a new product to compete in the fast-growing ready-to-drink spirit market, Reuters communicated August 22.

Femsa said the alcoholic malt drink "Soul Citric" would put it in a US$200 million market that is growing at around 8 percent a year.

"What we are attempting with this low-alcohol beverage is to expand our customer base," said Angel Abasolo, the marketing director at Femsa's beer division.

Femsa, which produces Sol and Tecate beers, would first sell the product in Mexico and then look at exporting it to the much larger U.S. market.

An analyst at Deutsche Bank said the launch was positive but that it would have no material impact on operating results.

Femsa's shares gained 0.79 percent August 22 to close at 101.16 pesos per share while its New York-traded shares rose 0.41 percent to US$93.09.

23 August, 2006