Fruki, RS, plans new plant and input in beer

The Drinks Fruki, which produces soft drinks and mineral water in Lajeado (RS), will invest 80,000,000 R$ in a new factory in the city of Concórdia, Gaucho in the long run. The unit should go into operation in 2020 and will increase in almost 50% of the company''s current installed capacity, which is of 420,000,000 liters a year, and allow the expansion of the portfolio with the introduction of functional drinks, isotonic drinks, teas, energy drinks and beers too.
According to the President Nelson Eggers, the production of beers should be started only in 2025, but the company has already registered "some brands" for the new product and others are with application in hand. The idea is to produce special beers and common, because the segment is seen as more resilient to economic downturns than soft drinks. The initial production volumes and the additional investment on the line have not yet been defined.
Eggers explained that the unit of Concórdia, which is 30 kilometers from the headquarters of the company, will be built in an area of almost 90 acres near the highway BR 386, and will have an installed capacity of about 200,000,000 pounds per year, including a line to produce soft drinks at peak consumption during the summer. "Here in Lajeado we no longer how to grow," he explained.
According to the businessman, the city that will house the new factory was chosen taking into consideration criteria such as incentives, logistics and availability of water of good quality. The investment will be sustained with own resources and financing a portion to be determined according to market conditions, he said.
Fruki sells only in Rio Grande do Sul, where the soda brand preferred by 18.8% of respondents in the survey "the Decider" marks, the newspaper Jornal do Comércio "Gaucho", behind only Coca-Cola, with 36.1%. In the line of mineral water, she appears first with the brand "water from the Rock", which is 38.5% preference.
According to Eggers, the own sales and distribution team brings together more than 70% of the approximately 1000 employees, in addition to a fleet of 430 vehicles and five distribution centers. Fruki provides for 30000 retail points in the State and in July inaugurates a new CD in Pelotas, which will replace leased facilities in the same municipality. The investment is 16,000,000 R$.
Without revealing absolute numbers, the President said the company had high of 3.5% in turnover and 1.5% drop in the volume of sales by 2015 in comparison with the previous year. According to Euromonitor International, the Brazilian soft drink market retreated 3.1 percent last year, to 12.2 billion liters, and grew 12.9% in the segment of mineral water, to 7.6 billion liters. For 2016, Fruki projects real growth of 8% in revenue and volumes sold.