The Mexican top brewer, Grupo Modelo, announced on June 23 that it is eyeing a new beer plant in several locations. Modelo's plans are to spend $1.5 billion over five years there to create Latin America's largest brewery, authorities in the Pacific coastal state of Colima said, Reuters reported. Modelo's investor relations director Jose Pares said “no decision had been made about a new plant for Modelo, maker of Corona beer, the top selling foreign brew in the United States.”

"Colima is one of the many locations we are looking at," Pares said. "We are constantly evaluating where we could construct a new plant, and at the moment we are carrying out explorations to determine if it is viable or not (in Colima)." Pares said there was no timeframe to decide on a new plant -- a decision would be made in terms of beer demand and Modelo's installed capacity -- and declined to comment on how many other projects Modelo had in mind on grounds of not wanting to disclose corporate secrets. Authorities in Colima, a tiny state on the Pacific, said Modelo's Chief Executive Officer Carlos Fernandez and the state governor Fernando Moreno had held various meetings.

25 June, 2003