Ukraine: Brahma® enters Ukrainian beer market

SUN Interbrew has recently announced the launch of Brahma®, one of InBev's global flagship brands, on the Ukrainian beer market.

Brahma®'s roots trace back to 1888, and it is now one of the most popular beer brands in Brasil, as well as the 8th-largest beer brand in the world, by volume. After the combination between Interbrew and AmBev, which was finalized on August 27th and which heralded the emergence of a new company, InBev, Brahma® took its place alongside Stella Artois® and Beck's® as a global flagship brand.

Brahma®'s taste is light and refreshing, with no aftertaste. The citrus after-notes and its lack of bitterness gives Brahma® its nice aroma and mild taste. Brahma® has 4.6% ABV-a gravity of 11%. It is bottled in transparent curved glass with embossed BRAHMA lettering, and comes in two sizes: 0.33 liters and 0.5 liters. The shape of the unique, curved ergonomic bottle reflects Brasilians special attitude toward life and their effortless flair-what they call 'ginga'. Ginga is an attitude and lifestyle, which is all about having an optimistic and creative approach to life.

InBev is launching Brahma® in more than fifteen markets around the world, and in the next few months consumers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Ukraine, among others, will be able to taste this unusual, refreshing beer. Brahma® will be brewed in Brasil (both in Rio and Sao Paulo), the Netherlands (at the Dommelen brewery) and in Russia (at the Klin brewery). The global launch of Brahma® is unique in the beer industry.

InBev is a publicly traded company (Euronext: INB) based in Leuven, Belgium. The company's origins date back to 1366, and today it is the leading global brewer by volume. InBev's strategy is to strengthen its local platforms by building significant positions in the world's major beer markets through organic growth, world-class efficiency, targeted acquisitions, and by putting consumers first. InBev has a portfolio of more than 200 brands, including Stella Artois®, BRAHMA®, Beck's®, Skol®-the third-largest selling beer brand in the world-Leffe®, Hoegaarden®, Staropramen® and Bass®. InBev employs some 77,000 people, running operations in over 30 countries across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. In 2004, InBev realized a net turnover of 8.57 billion euro (including four months of AmBev).

SUN Interbrew Limited is the second largest brewer in Russia and the market leader in Ukraine. The company was set up in 1999. It is a daughter company of InBev, the No. 1 global brewer. The company has production facilities in 8 Russian cities and 3 in Ukraine. It employs over 9,000 people. It also has a network of sales offices. The company's main brands are Stella Artois®, Beck's®, Brahma®, Staropramen®, Klinskoye, Sibirskaya Korona, and Tolstiak in Russia, and Stella Artois®, Beck's®, Chernigivske, Rogan, Taller and Yantar in Ukraine.

18 May, 2005