Mexico has been producing beer for just over a century. Dozens of brands, of diverse styles, have emerged throughout this time: some continue to this day, others have disappeared and several more have changed hands. All this movement in the beer industry has generated confusion about how Mexican the beer brands that dominate the market are or are not.
Until 2010, the two largest brewing groups, Grupo Modelo and Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma, had Mexican owners. But in 2010, the Monterrey-based company FEMSA announced the sale of its beer business to the Dutch company Heineken, for 7,347 million dollars.
Two years later, in 2012, Grupo Modelo, the maker of Corona, Negra Modelo, Victoria and PacĂfico beer, surprised again with the announcement that the Belgian brewer Anheuser Busch InBev would buy the shares of Grupo Modelo that it did not yet own for 20.1 billion euros. Dollars.
Although the change of hands did not discourage consumption, it did generate a debate on whether one could still speak of a “Mexican brewing industry”, since when a company is acquired by another, it becomes part of the multinational’s product portfolio. However, the brewers defend that, although their shares are no longer in the hands of Mexicans, the supplies, production, labor and even distribution are.
“The companies did not stop being Mexican, even though foreigners bought them. The brewing giants maintain this relationship with Mexicans and have been responsible for building market loyalty through their communication strategies,” says Iván GarcĂa, associate creative director at Rojo Colectivo.
For GarcĂa, although the controlling companies of Grupo Modelo and CuauhtĂ©moc Moctezuma are foreigners -and Mexicans know it-, the brands they market in the country do not lose their Mexican identity because they were created in Mexico and maintain their manufacturing here.
“The brands do not stop being national and the companies are also in charge of showing off this identity in all their communication. This is a letter of introduction and allows us to maintain this sense of belonging”, says GarcĂa.
For example, Cerveza Victoria, a Grupo Modelo brand, has made use of the Mexican tradition of the Day of the Dead, to differentiate itself from other brands and position itself in the Mexican market.
Model Group
Grupo Modelo emerged in Mexico City in 1925, and already with some brands in its product line, such as Negra Modelo, it acquired CervecerĂa del PacĂfico in 1954, which was located in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, and CervecerĂa La Estrella de Guadalajara. , Jalisco.
At the end of the 1970s, he created CompañĂa Cervecera del TrĂłpico, in Tuxtepec, Oaxaca, which began operations five years later with the manufacture of the LeĂłn and Montejo brands.
One of the most relevant milestones for the company came in 2012, when the Belgian company Anheuser-Busch InBev acquired 50% of the shares that it did not own of the Mexican company, with which it had a partnership. In the negotiation it was agreed that Modelo would keep its name.
Grupo Modelo currently has breweries located in Mexico City, Torreón, Sinaloa, Zacatecas, Guadalajara, Hidalgo, Oaxaca and Yucatán. To these are added two craft beer plants and an experimental one and ten factories of vertical operations, in charge of manufacturing glass bottles, caps and malt.
Grupo Modelo has a portfolio of 46 national brands, including Corona, Victoria, Modelo Especial, Negra Modelo, Barrilito, Montejo, LeĂłn and PacĂfico. In its portfolio there are also the artisanal brands Cucapá, Bocanegra, Tijuana, Mexicali.
The brewery also sells the Budweiser, Bud Light, Stella Artois, Michelob Ultra, O’Doul’s brands in the country, as well as the specialty beer brands Hoegarden, Becks, Leffe and Goose Island.
Cuauhtémoc Brewery / FEMSA Beer
CervecerĂa CuauhtĂ©moc opened its doors for the first time in November 1890, in Monterrey, Nuevo LeĂłn, the year in which it began with the deployment of Carta Blanca beer. In 1988 it merged with CervecerĂa Moctezuma to create CervecerĂa CuauhtĂ©moc Moctezuma.
In 2010, FEMSA, which was the controller of the brewer, obtained a 20% interest in Grupo Heineken in exchange for 100% of the shares of FEMSA Cerveza.
Currently, Heineken Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma has plants in Monterrey, Guadalajara, Tecate, Toluca, Navojoa, Orizaba and Meoqui. The brands that the group distributes in Mexico are Heineken, Sol, Superior, Dos Equis, Indio, Tecate, Carta Blanca, Bohemia, Noche Buena, Coors Light, Kloster Light, Strongbow and Affligem, among others.
