E-Malt.com News article: 2045

Chile's largest brewer, Compania Cervecerias Unidas (CCU), announced on January 8 its sales volume in the fourth quarter of 2003 climbed by 8.9% year-on-year. The rise was driven by sales growth in almost all of its beverage products in Argentina and in Chile. CCU has seen big success this year with a new joint venture to bottle Dutch brew Heineken in the region. CCU began producing and selling Heineken in June 2003. The company is controlled by Chile's Chile's Quinenco and Heineken NV of the Netherlands. CCU also sells juice, mineral water and wine and saw volume growth in the fourth quarter in most of those lines as well.

According to press reports from January 13, CCU is considering entering the Brazilian market. The Chilean beverage maker is thinking about branching out of Chile and Argentina. “In the future there might be news on the matter,” Chilean newswire ValorFuturo quoted Guillermo Luksic, the president of Quinenco, CCU’s controlling shareholder.

Beer sales volume in Chile grew by 7.2% in the fourth quarter of 2003, compared with the same quarter of 2002, to 1.2 million hectoliters. Argentina beer volume rose by 8.8% to 643,007 hectolitres.


16 January, 2004