Brazil: FEMSA launches new Sol beer for the mainstream beer drinkers in Brazil

Mexican brewer FEMSA launched October 18 a beer for "everyday drinkers" in Brazil, where its marquee mainstream brand Kaiser - recently inherited in an acquisition - has long been overshadowed by brews made by homegrown giant AmBev, Reuters communicated October 18.

Though it shares the same name as FEMSA's well-known niche premium beer Sol, the new Sol is made with an entirely different recipe geared for what the company refers to as Brazil's mainstream beer market.

"This is a beer that is designed for everyday beer drinkers in Brazil," Ricardo Morici, the marketing director of FEMSA's Brazilian unit, said at an event at a popular bar in Sao Paulo to unveil the brand.

FEMSA, which will still sell the premium version of Sol in Brazil at upscale bars and restaurants, is betting on the new brand to expand its reach in the world's fourth-largest beer market.

It also hopes the new brand will help it woo consumers away from archrival AmBev, which makes Brazil's three best-selling beers - Skol, Brahma and Antarctica - and commands a whopping 68.5 percent of the country's beer market.

"This beer was born to be a leader," said Eduardo Fischer, who devised the advertising campaign to promote the new Sol.

FEMSA executives declined to say how much the company had invested in developing and marketing the new brand.

The new Sol - which has a similar label to the premium version and will be sold at a lower price in cans, bottles and on tap - essentially replaces Kaiser as FEMSA's flagship beer in Brazil. FEMSA, Mexico's second-largest brewer, inherited the Kaiser brand when it bought struggling brewery Cervejarias Kaiser in January from Molson Coors Brewing Co. for $68 million.

Molson, which spent $765 million for Kaiser in 2002, was eager to unload the Brazilian brewer because it had become a drain on its finances. On Molson's watch, Kaiser's market share plunged to below 10 percent from 17 percent, leaving it in third place in Brazil's beer market.

Since FEMSA took over Kaiser, its market share has dwindled further, slipping to 7.8 percent at the end of September, according to market research firm AC Nielsen.

FEMSA, whose soft drinks unit Coca-Cola FEMSA is the world's No. 2 Coke bottler, first broke into the Brazilian market in 2003 with the acquisition of Miami-based Panamco.

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