Cerveza Quilmes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Quilmes

Location	Quilmes, Argentina
Owner(s)	AmBev (91%) QUINSA (9%)
Year opened	1888
Annual production	15 million hectolitres
Active beers
Quilmes Cristal	Lager
Quilmes Bock	Bock
Quilmes light	Light Lager
Iguana	Light Lager
Stout	Stout
Imperial	Pilsner
Andes	Lager
Bieckert
Norte
Palermo	Lager
Liberty	Non-alcoholic beer

Cervecería y maltería Quilmes is an Argentine Brewery founded in 1888 in Quilmes, Buenos Aires Province, by Otto Bemberg, a German immigrant.

The company quickly started growing and in the 1920s it was already the most popular beer in Buenos Aires. Since then, it has become something of a national symbol, and has 75% of the beer market share in Argentina. It sponsors the Argentina national football team, and the colours of its labels are Argentina's light blue and white.

As of 2005, Quilmes has plants in Quilmes, Zárate, Tres Arroyos, Corrientes, Tucumán and Mendoza. It is also exported to Perú, Ecuador, Mexico,Honduras, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, USA, Spain, Dominican Republic, France, UK, Italy, Australia and several other countries. It sells a yearly total of around 17 million hL of beer and 8 million hL of soft drinks and others.

[edit] QUINSA

The international company Quilmes Industrial S.A. (QUINSA) is a Luxembourg-based holding that controls Quilmes, and franchises PepsiCo's products, including Gatorade and Tropicana, in Argentina and Uruguay. QUINSA holds the 30% of Quilmes, with 53% of the rights of vote.

In 2002, Brazilian company AmBev bought 37,5% of Quilmes S.A. in an agreement that will give Quilmes the control of the AmBev brands in Argentina. The merge of the two companies, that have option for paper exchange between them, turns AmBev/Quilmes into the world's third largest beverage producer.

In 2006 AmBev increased its shares of the company to over 91% effectivelly taking control of the company^[1]. Ambev and Interbrew form a new company named InBev, that is now the world's first largest beverage producer.