CERVEZAS DEL SUR SECURES $12.75 MILLION BANCO POPULAR FINANCING
Date: 09/17/2009 | By: Frances Ryan | [original article from CaribbeanBusinessPR.com]
It’s official. A $12.75 loan from Banco Popular has made it possible for Cervezas del Sur to initiate construction of its new Ponce-based brewery, CARIBBEAN BUSINESSS learned. Cervezas del Sur’s new plant will have a production capacity of 2.6 million gallons of beer and malta a year and plans call for beginning brewing early next year.
The Puerto Rican-based corporation is supported by a group of local (80%) and stateside investors, with local investment group including Mendez & Co. and its directors as individual investors. The remaining 20% of the new corporation is in the hands of North Carolina-based Mane Group, plus individual private investors. Young North Carolina entrepreneurs Geoff Hanson and Greg Clucas are credited with the project’s original vision.
Luis Alvarez, board of directors president of Cervezas del Sur, deemed the financial support of Banco Popular as historic, adding it not only permits the creation of the first brewing company on the island in more than 40 years, the island’s leading financial institution, with the well being of the local economy and all Puerto Ricans
.
As first reported by CARIBBEAN BUSINESS , Cervezas del Sur has been immersed in its early development stages ranging from construction permits to the strategic marketing development plan of the new brewery operation. Plant equipment began to arrive last month, followed by the installation process expected to run through the end of October and plans call for beginning brewing as early as January.
Emilio Pinero, Banco Popular’s first executive vice president said, “At Banco Popular, we’re extremely proud to support a project like Cervezas del Sur, which will not only strengthen our local economy but will also keep us moving forward toward realizing the enormous development and creative potential Puerto Rico has.”
Cervezas del Sur begins brewing February 2010
Date: 07/23/2009 | By: Frances Ryan | [original article from CaribbeanBusinessPR.com]
New $20 million plant under construction; locally brewed beer to hit shelves in April; aimed at becoming the beer of the new generation, with focus on quality.
This year’s sensation at the MIDA (the Spanish acronym for the Chamber of Food Marketing, Industry & Distribution) food-trade convention was the “coming soon” teaser campaign launched by Cervezas del Sur, Puerto Rico’s new brewing company, scheduled to begin brewing a new premium-quality beer by next February, CARIBBEAN BUSINESS learned. The new corporation, backed by a group of local investors, among them Méndez & Co., as well as outside partners who hold 20% of the project, is brewing up some tough competition.
With an initial $20 million investment, the new brewery will be in a Ponce industrial park formerly occupied by Textron and Hanes manufacturing operations. The movie-like Cervezas del Sur trailer focused on the quality of the new beer product and some of its attributes like freshness, quality ingredients and an elaboration process of excellence. Although the new beer hasn’t been named yet, campaign images of a golden sun may provide valuable insight as to the future beer brand.
The new brewery will have the capacity to produce 2.6 million gallons of beer and malta annually.
“Cervezas del Sur should be receiving the equipment in August and September, and we will commence the insulation process in October. If all goes according to plan, we should be brewing by January and going to the market by next April,” said Luis Álvarez, principal of Cervezas del Sur, who credited two young North Carolina entrepreneurs, Geoff Hanson and Gregg Clucas, for the original project vision.
Regarding skeptics who questioned Méndez & Co.’s decision to establish its own local brewery, and perhaps in direct competition with its own Heineken distribution, he simply said: “We fought a tough and fair fight to eliminate the preferential tax that has given Cervecería India a tremendous competitive advantage in the local market over the years. We took our fight all the way to the highest court in the land, the federal Supreme Court, and we lost. I am a firm believer in adapting and evolving; our initial route didn’t yield the results we—as an industry—would have wanted, so I am adapting to the market. Only those who find the way to adapt in a changing market will survive to tell their story.”
In addition to leveraging the local tax situation to jump-start the new brewing company, Álvarez is tapping into his vast branding and marketing experience handling the Heineken-brand legacy. “The Heineken experience has prepared me for this new challenge, developing a quality product that is respectful of what consumers want,” he said.
We won’t be the cervecería llorona (the whining beer company), Álvarez noted, perhaps referring to Cervecería India, which often complains about local tax increases even when the existing preferential tax structure benefits their local production. “Ours will be a great beer, with fantastic ingredients, and consumers will drink it, not because it is the cheapest, but because we will offer the best value for the money and make them proud to give Puerto Rico a quality beer formulated with the utmost respect for the consumer,” he added.
