E-Malt.com News article: Argentina: AB InBev’s Quilmes investing $3 million in new production technology at Zárate brewery

Cervecería y Maltería Quilmes, the Argentine unit of Anheuser-Busch InBev, said this week it is investing $3 million in new production technology at its plant in Zárate, Buenos Aires province, as it expands its push into nonalcoholic, gluten-free and sweet beer in Argentina, Vinetur reported on October 22.

The company said the full investment will go to production equipment and process upgrades at the Zárate brewery, which has become the center of its recent product development in those categories. The move comes as Quilmes says alcohol-free beer has gained ground in Argentina, reaching about 3% of the country’s beer market after tripling its share since 2024.

The figures on market share were provided by the company, which did not cite an independent audit or disclose segment volumes in hectoliters. Even so, the investment is notable because it comes from the local operation of the world’s largest brewer by volume. Industry supplier BarthHaas ranked AB InBev as the biggest brewer globally in 2025, with 484.19 million hectoliters of beer produced that year. The group’s corporate results for 2025 showed 561.1 million hectoliters in total beverage volumes and $59.3 billion in revenue.

In Argentina, Quilmes said the clearest signs of change are coming from consumer behavior. Company executives said one out of every 10 Corona beers sold in the country is now alcohol-free. Gonzalo Fagioli, Quilmes’ vice president for corporate affairs, legal and compliance, said during a visit to the Zárate plant that the company is adjusting its portfolio to match changing demand.

The company’s recent expansion in 0.0 beer is tied to equipment installed in Zárate in 2024. Quilmes said the plant uses low-pressure distillation and what it described as smart yeast to remove alcohol while preserving flavor. From that line, the company produces Quilmes 0.0, Corona Cero and Stella Artois 0.0 for the domestic market.

Quilmes said alcohol-free beer now represents 68% of the nonalcoholic options within the broader alcoholic beverage segment in Argentina. It also said the category is not taking business away from regular beer in a direct way, because 85% of consumers who buy alcohol-free beer also drink conventional beer. Those figures were also provided by the company.

The investment is also aimed at categories that until recently had only a small presence in the Argentine market. One is gluten-free beer, which Quilmes said became more viable locally after changes to Argentina’s food code allowed for wider development of the segment. The company first entered that category with Michelob Ultra, a gluten-free and lower-carbohydrate beer that was initially brewed in Tucumán and is now also produced in Zárate. It later added Stella Artois Pure Gold.

Another target is sweet beer, a category that Quilmes said has shown stronger than expected demand. The company recently launched Brahma FT, which has lemon and grapefruit notes, and began brewing Flying Fish in Argentina, a brand first developed in South Africa that combines beer with lemon juice.

The Zárate brewery, about 60 miles north of the city of Buenos Aires, has become one of the company’s most important industrial assets in the country. Quilmes said the plant opened in 1992, has eight production lines and annual capacity of 6 million hectoliters. According to the company, it produces 37% of Argentina’s beer volume and accounts for nearly 50% of Quilmes’ exports. It also brews local versions of major global brands in the AB InBev portfolio, including Corona, Stella Artois, Budweiser and Michelob Ultra.

The investment also fits into a broader role that Argentina has taken inside the group. Quilmes said that since January 2026, the country has again served as a regional hub for AB InBev’s operations in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. That status gives the local business a larger role in product development and operating decisions across the Southern Cone.

Quilmes, founded in 1890, also emphasized its agricultural base as part of the business case for continued local investment. The company said it works with more than 1,100 agricultural producers, operates two malt plants and manages about 260,000 hectares of barley out of a national total of 1.2 million. It said one out of every four beers brewed by AB InBev worldwide uses barley grown in Buenos Aires province. In 2025, the company said, its exports of barley and malt generated $305 million, with Brazil, Colombia and other Latin American markets among the main destinations.



23 October, 2026