SABMiller and Coca-Cola Amatil to build a brewery by 2010

Unlike Heineken, that could not be drawn out when it will build a brewery in South Africa, the two beverage giants self-confidently let their competition know well in advance when they would be ready to tackle them head on.

In February, Pacific Beverages, the Australian joint venture between SABMiller and Coca-Cola Amatil, which was established in 2006, announced that it will invest in the construction of a new brewery in the Central Coast region of New South Wales, some 100 km from Sydney. The brewery will have a capacity of 500,000 hl and is expected to be completed in 2010. The investment, which will be subject to certain local regulatory clearances, will be funded jointly by SABMiller and CCA. The volume of investment required for the construction of the brewery was not published.

According to Pacific Beverages, the new brewery will facilitate its access to the Australian premium beer market which has grown at a rate of around 15 percent each year for the last six years.