jueves, 24 de abril de 2008

Parque Arauco to invest heavily in Colombia

Parque Arauco will invest US$200mil in entering the Colombian market with US$70mil of that total to be spent by the Chilean shopping-centre group on the Pereira mall and its 40,201 square metres of rentable space. Parque Arauco is controlled by the families Said and Abumohor and should inaugurate this first Colombian mall in the final quarter of 2009. In Chile, Parque Arauco will build the malls Quilicura (US$42mil, to open in May 2009) and Pajaritos (US$9mil, to open next month) as well as the Torre de Oficinas Cerro Colorado (US$35mill, to open in August 2008). In Peru, it will open three shopping centres - San Isidro, US$84mil; Arequipa, US$40mil; and the strip center Chorrillo, US$4mil before February 2010.

Publication: SABI - Business News
Provider: South American Business Information
Date: April 24, 2008

jueves, 17 de abril de 2008

Chilean beer giant has its teeth in the rum market

A recently published ACNielsen market poll disclosed that, after less than ten months of marketing its Sierra Morena rum, Compania Cervecerias Unidas (CCU), Chile’s largest beer and beverage producer, has already taken control of 11.4 percent of the country’s rum market.

Compania Pisquera de Chile (CPCh), the subsidiary of CCU that controls all of CCU’s hard liquor products, claims it actually controls 18 percent of the market, not the 11.4 percent reported by the ACNielson poll. Company head Alvaro Fernandez told the Chilean daily El Mercurio that “CPCh’s statistics took into account sales in bars, discotheques, and convenient stores where as the ACNielsen poll is concentrated in supermarket sales.”

Morena is now the second largest selling rum on the Chilean market, second to Luksic group’s rum Mitjans, which controls 28.8 percent of the market. The third largest selling rum label in Chile is Venezuela’s Pampero rum, accounting for 7.2 percent of the market.

Rum sales in Chile have tripled in the past three years. In 2007, sales reached nearly US$80 million and now account for 18 percent of the total Chilean liquor market with 60 different brands.

CCU’s principal hard liquor is pisco, a Chilean brandy that accounts for 85 percent of CPCh’s sales. They are the biggest producers of pisco in Chile, owning 70 percent of the market with their Capmanario and Mistral labels.

However, pisco sales have declined over the years. In 2007, pisco’s market share dropped to 14.8 percent. Therefore, Fernandez emphasized the importance of rum as a major force in CPCh’s portfolio of hard liquors.

Publication: Santiago Times
Provider: Chip News
Date: April 17, 2008

domingo, 13 de abril de 2008

Tubinger: the new brewery on the block

One of Chile’s newest—if not its newest—craft beers is Tubinger, owned, operated and conceived by Christoph Flaskamp, a German man very passionate about beer. He’s so passionate that he used to brew his own homemade ale in the backyard of his house during a time when beer-making ingredients such as hops were very hard to come by in Chile.

Passion drove Christoph into the beer industry. He was born in Germany, grew up in Chile, and studied in England. After his studies, he returned to Chile, where he worked as an English professor. He had always loved beer, and after he started brewing his own, he decided to make his passion his profession.

For Christoph, who learned his craft under the guidance of a German brew master, the tradition of beer became of utmost importance. “Beer has a very long and intricate tradition. It’s important to create beers that respect and honor the traditions originated by microbreweries before pasteurization and big-business brewing took over the market,” he said.

With ruddy cheeks, an extensive vocabulary to describe beers and an intricate knowledge of beer’s history, to me he seems to be the man who can and will forge the path toward getting Chileans not only to drink good craft beers—like Tubinger’s—but also to appreciate beer at the same level they appreciate a fine wine. I believe this because he did call me out on a few issues regarding my knowledge of beer and Chile. I’ll get to that later.

I asked Christoph for his thoughts on Compañía Cervecerías Unidas (CCU), Chile’s largest commercial brewery. CCU owns 86 percent of country’s beer market, including not only the major Chilean beers—such as the country’s two biggest beer brands, watery Cristal and Escudo—but also Royal Guard, Austral and Kunstmann. In addition, CCU has the license to produce beer brands like Heineken and Paulnar.

Since I have started this column, my mild distaste for CCU’s products has grown into hatred. It’s almost as if I have found a life calling in sharing with everyone just how bad CCU products and business practices are. Christoph agreed. “CCU is tricking all of Chile into thinking that they have diversified their products when in fact all the beers, regardless of their name and color, pretty much taste the same: like alcoholic water with a bit of coloring.” I added that Kunstmann was a sad excuse for a microbrewery.

This is where I was corrected. Christoph explained to me that Kunstmann actually forged the path for other microbreweries by reviving the tradition of quality beer production in Chile. “Before Kunstmann, Chile went through a long period where the only beer available was Cristal,” he said. “If it wasn’t for Kunstmann, none of us microbreweries would have any business.” He added, “When you drink a Kunstmann in Valdivia, the beer actually maintains the quality it had before the company owner sold out to CCU because the beer is brewed in a separate factory from CCU’s, while the Kunstmann you buy in Santiago is produced in CCU factories.”

So far, Tubinger has three beers on the market: a brown ale, a red ale and a pale ale. I tried the brown and pale ales, and they are both great. The brown ale is nice because it’s lighter than a stout but still has the earthy flavors that a stout carries. The Tubinger brown ale is a rarity because most brown ales taste like watered-down mild ale—even in England! Christoph told me he tried to “restore brown ale’s historic value as a dark ale with a large portion of roasted malt.” The taste has a strong hint of chocolate with a rounded, bitter aftertaste: wonderful beer!

As for the Tubinger pale ale, it’s refreshing and fruity without being too sweet. “Our pale ale is not like others that sometime add sweeteners that just result in too sugary a beverage,” Christoph said. “The fruitiness of our beer comes from top fermentation with brewers yeast fermented at high temperatures and, of course, a good dose of German Hallertaur hops.”

You can enjoy a Tubinger on tap at the Purammente Bar in Providencia on the corner of Bilbao and Miguel Claro. The bar is also where the biggest group of Santiago city cyclers meet in the early evening almost daily; they love their Tubinger! You can also find Tubinger at Jumbo supermarkets and select restaurants throughout Santiago

Publication: Santiago Times
Provider: Chip News
Date: April 12, 2008

martes, 8 de abril de 2008

Elsa enters beer business

Yesterday, in Puerto Varas, the Chilean bottling group Elsa, the national B-brand soft-drinks leader in Chile with products such as Rari (Cola and water), Ship and Cash, officially launched a flavoured beer brand called Volcanes del Sur for the premium artesanal sector. The product is aimed at the growing number of Chilean women who are drinking beer, says Andres Zuazagoitia, owner and general director of Elsa.

The firm is also looking to enter the traditional beer segment with Antillanca. The Chilean beer market is made up 90% of traditional beers and 10% by artesanal drinks. Elsa makes drinks for Lider supermarkes and also makes the brand Caricia for Ambrosoli.

Publication: SABI - Business News
Provider: South American Business Information
Date: April 8, 2008

Elsa enters beer business

Yesterday, in Puerto Varas, the Chilean bottling group Elsa, the national B-brand soft-drinks leader in Chile with products such as Rari (Cola and water), Ship and Cash, officially launched a flavoured beer brand called Volcanes del Sur for the premium artesanal sector. The product is aimed at the growing number of Chilean women who are drinking beer, says Andres Zuazagoitia, owner and general director of Elsa.

The firm is also looking to enter the traditional beer segment with Antillanca. The Chilean beer market is made up 90% of traditional beers and 10% by artesanal drinks. Elsa makes drinks for Lider supermarkes and also makes the brand Caricia for Ambrosoli.

Publication: SABI - Business News
Provider: South American Business Information
Date: April 8, 2008

viernes, 4 de abril de 2008

Enersis to invest US$10bn through 2012

Chilean energy holding company Enersis (NYSE: ENI) plans to invest US$10bn from 2008-12 in the five countries in Latin America where it has operations, the company said in a statement.

Enersis will invest US$5.6bn to generate 2.32GW of new capacity of which 1.63GW will be constructed in Chile. The remaining US$4.4bn will go to improve the company's distribution businesses.

"It's one of the most ambitious investment plans we have presented in the last few years," Enersis president Pablo Yrarrázaval said in the statement.

In addition to Chile, Enersis operates in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru.

Enersis controls Chilean generator Endesa Chile. The holding company is in turn controlled by Spanish power company Endesa.

Publication: Business News Americas - English News
Provider: Business News Americas
Date: April 3, 2008