Ambev to invest nearly 1.16B reais by end of 2011 to expand its operations in southeastern Brazil; AB Inbev subsidiary has 13 factories, 26 distribution centers and 15,400 employees in the region

Andrew Rogers

LOS ANGELES , October 21, 2011 (Industry Intelligence) – Brazil’s Ambev will invest nearly 1.16 billion reais (US$649.1 million) by the end of 2011 to expand its operations in the southeastern states of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais, Exame.com reported Oct 18.

The company has 13 factories, 26 distribution centers and 15,400 employees in the region.

According to the Brazilian business website, 537 million reais will be invested in Sao Paulo, 250 million reais in Minas Gerais and 370 million reais in Rio de Janeiro.

In Sao Paulo, the Anheuser-Busch InBev NV subsidiary will boost the capacity of one of its factories by 15% by installing a new 84.1-million-reais production line capable of filling 35,000 1-liter glass bottles per hour. The project is set to create 100 new jobs. The company will also invest in facility upgrades and logistics.

In Minas Gerais, Ambev will expand its Sete Lagoas plant, where it’s currently adding beer production, boosting the site’s capacity to 9.3 million hectoliters/year from 4.7 million hectoliters/year.

In Rio de Janeiro, the maker of Antarctica and Brahma beers, Guaraná soft drink and the bottler of Pepsi will increase capacity at its Piraí factory, as well as update other manufacturing facilities and its seven distribution centers, Exame.com reported.

The primary source of this article is Exame.com. Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Oct. 18, 2011.

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