Dutch brewer Heineken is to invest $2.75bn in a brewery in the Yucatán peninsula, the Mexico Daily News reports.
The company, which has been in Mexico for 135 years, already has seven production centres making brands such as Dos Equis, Amstel and Sol, as well as Heineken. Its latest site will be in the Kanasín area, just outside the Yucatán state capital of Mérida.
The plant will be able to make 400 million litres – 704 million pints – of beer. That capacity may double if demand is sufficient.
Chief executive Oriol Bonaclocha announced the plan during Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum’s morning press conference. He said the plant would be completed by 2028 and was expected to create 3,000 jobs.
He said the beer would be labelled “hecho en México” (made in Mexico). This certifies that all the ingredients, such as malted barley, corn starch, hops and vitamin C are produced in Mexico.
Bonaclocha added that the project was the first time Heineken had consulted an indigenous community before building a brewery.
President Sheinbaum said the investment showed that large companies had confidence in Mexico.
In addition to its breweries, the company’s Mexican operation has a malting plant and a logistics network with more than 170 distribution centres, employing a total of 18,000 people.
The project was first mentioned by the company back in 2023, when it was described as a €430m investment “with the ambition to expand sustainable brewing practices and foster community growth”.
Mexico is the world’s largest exporter of beer. In 2023, it shipped a total of 4 billion litres, considerably above the Netherlands and Belgium, which had export volumes of 1.8 billion litres and 1.5 billion litres respectively.
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