Heineken has begun construction on its first brewery in Mozambique, seeing the company invest $100 million (€85 million) in the southern African nation.
Located in the province of Maputo, the brewery will have a production capacity of 0.8 million hectolitres and manufacture products for the domestic market.
Heineken says that the facility will be operational by the first half of 2019 and create around 200 jobs.
Expanding Market
Heineken Mozambique started activities in 2016, with a sales and marketing office that imported Heineken, Amstel and Sagres beer into the country.
The brewing company says that this new facility is a “major step forward” in its plans for the market.
“We are delighted to enter Mozambique, where we see promising long-term economic perspectives,” said Boudewijn Haarsma, Heineken International’s managing director for East and West Africa.
“Investing in a new market like Mozambique supports Heineken’s ambition to expand its footprint and be the number-one [brewer], or a strong number-two, in all markets in which it operates. With our extensive experience and existing business in Africa, we also aim to be a partner for growth today in Mozambique, as we already are throughout the continent,” Haarsma continued.
The Heineken group reported organic sales growth of 2.5% in the third quarter of its financial year, driven by its Africa, Middle East & Eastern Europe unit, which was up by 8.8%.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
