E-Malt.com News article: Chile: Barriers still blocking beer sales in Chile’s bars despite antitrust settlement – AB InBev

Anheuser-Busch InBev says barriers still limit its ability to sell beer in Chile’s bars, restaurants and pubs, more than two years after a court-approved competition agreement was meant to open that market to rivals of local brewer CCU, Vinetur reported on October 19.

The claim was made by Juan Manuel Ferrés, the general manager of AB InBev Chile, in an interview published Monday by Diario Financiero. Ferrés said the company continues to see obstacles in the hospitality channel despite the 2024 settlement between Chile’s National Economic Prosecutor’s Office, known as the FNE, and CCU. “We still see the barriers,” he said, according to the newspaper.

His comments add a new complaint from a major competitor, but they do not amount to a new regulatory ruling or a formal finding that CCU has breached the agreement. The news is the public statement from AB InBev’s Chilean unit, not a new decision by Chilean competition authorities.

The issue centers on Chile’s on-premise beer market, the channel that includes bars, restaurants and pubs where customers drink on site. That segment was the focus of a conciliation agreement approved by Chile’s Competition Tribunal, or TDLC, on March 15, 2024. At the time, the FNE said CCU held about 90% of beer sales by volume in that channel. The figure was presented by the authority as part of the case record and is a historical reference tied to the 2024 agreement, not an updated 2026 market share.

According to the FNE’s statement when the settlement was approved, the agreement ended a case brought against CCU for failing to comply with commitments that dated back to a 2008 arrangement designed to protect competition in the beer market. The prosecutor’s office said its investigation, which began in 2019, found that although contracts with restaurants, bars and pubs formally matched the language allowed under the 2008 deal, in practice the freedom to sell competing beers remained restricted by CCU’s conduct.

The 2024 agreement imposed several obligations on CCU aimed at giving smaller competitors access to key points of sale inside those establishments. When CCU provides draft beer dispensing machines with four to seven taps, it must ensure that one tap is available for a supplier with less than 5% national market share in the on-premise channel. If a machine has eight or more taps, two taps must be made available under the same rule. The settlement also required CCU to leave the bottom shelf of its refrigeration equipment available for competing products, provided that space equals at least 20% of the cooler’s capacity, again for suppliers with less than 5% national share in that channel.

The agreement also addressed payments and contributions linked to beer advertising exclusivity. Under the terms described by the FNE, CCU must set those payments using objective, general and non-discriminatory criteria so they do not block, restrict or hinder the sale of competitors’ beer in bars, restaurants and pubs. The company also agreed to strengthen its antitrust compliance program. An independent compliance monitor, reporting only to the FNE, was appointed to oversee the company’s obligations for five years.

At the time of the settlement, the FNE said the measures would open space for craft brewers and other smaller players to compete in the immediate-consumption segment. The authority also said it would closely monitor whether the obligations were implemented effectively and on time. CCU also agreed to pay 3,000 annual tax units, which the FNE said at the time was equal to more than $2.4 million.

Ferrés’ remarks suggest AB InBev does not believe the practical effect has matched the formal commitments. Still, the interview, as described by Diario Financiero, did not provide a new market-wide measurement of how many establishments are now open to rivals, how much draft or cooler space competitors have gained, or how much business AB InBev may have recovered since the agreement took effect.

That makes it difficult to compare the current complaint with the benchmark used by regulators in 2024. Ferrés’ comments point to a continuing dispute over how the rules are being applied at street level, in a market where access to taps, refrigeration and in-store visibility can shape what consumers are offered when they order a beer.

The dispute matters beyond one company’s sales strategy because the hospitality channel is a key route to market for brewers trying to build brands, secure distribution and compete for repeat consumption. A beer available on tap or in a visible cooler at a bar or restaurant often has a commercial advantage over brands that are absent from that setting.

AB InBev is the world’s largest brewer and has roughly 25% of the global beer market, giving added weight to its public criticism of conditions in Chile. In the Chilean market, however, the company faces CCU, whose strong position in the on-premise segment was one of the main reasons the FNE pursued the case that led to the 2024 settlement.

For now, the public record shows two things at once: Chile’s competition authority put in place a detailed set of remedies in 2024 to loosen restrictions in bars, restaurants and pubs, and a large rival says that, in practice, the barriers have not disappeared.


20 October, 2026