When will Corona arrive in Brazil
Everybody I asked seemed to agree that AB-Inbev plans to produce Corona Extra, Modelo’s best-selling beer, in Brazil. But when will it be? It took AB-InBev three years after they purchased Anheuser-Busch to start production of Budweiser in Latin America’s major beer market.
Corona is available in Brazil – but still hard to find – thanks to being imported informally. Modelo tried several times to sell its beer in Brazil but each time grappled with taxes, tariffs and other obstacles. As recently as 2011, Modelo said that it hoped to find an “established channel” to sell Corona in Brazil, where there are few imported beers available.
Corona would fit nicely into the country’s growing premium segment. It currently stands at about 5 percent of the total market, which is low by international standards.
According to estimates by AmBev, beer consumption dropped 0.6 percent in 2012. In the same period, sales of AmBev’s premium brands, such as Budweiser and Stella Artois, grew 12.4 percent. AmBev claims to control 70 percent of the premium beer segment.
In December 2012, AMBev had a market share of 68.2 percent in terms of volumes, followed by Cervejaria Petrópolis with 11.2 percent, Brasil Kirin (the former brewer Schincariol) with 10.4 percent and Heineken with 8.7 percent
