Portugal & Angola: Sociedade Central de Cervejas to inaugurate a brewery in Angola in 2014

Portuguese beer company Sociedade Central de Cervejas, which produces the Sagres brand of beer, is still planning to open a factory in Angola in 2014, the company’s chief executive, Alberto da Ponte was quoted by Portuguese financial daily Diário Económico on March, 22.

The chief executive also said that becoming the Angolan beer market leader would also be delayed until 2014. This target had initially been set for 2012.

Ponte also told the newspaper that, “there have been a lot of changes in the domestic market”, due to, “splitting of resources as a result of the economic crisis in Portugal”, and that he believed the Sagres brand had potential to grow in the Angolan market, where it is second amongst imported beers after Cristal, owned by its Portuguese competitor Unicer.

At a time when the beer market in Portugal is experiencing a fall of 10 percent according to figures from the sector association, the chief executive of Sociedade Central de Cervejas said that the focus on exports would continue, specifically to countries such as Angola, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, and to North America.

23 March, 2012