Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery

Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery

Industry	Beverage
Founded	1890
Headquarters	Monterrey , Mexico
Products	Beers
Owner	FEMSA

Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery (Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma) is a major brewery based in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, founded in 1890. It is a subsidiary of FEMSA, the largest beverage company in Mexico.

The company operates brewing plants in Monterrey, Tecate, Navojoa, Guadalajara, Toluca, Orizaba and in 2010 one in Chihuahua, producing the Dos Equis, Sol, Bohemia, Superior, Carta Blanca, Noche Buena, Casta and Tecate brands among others. It has an annual production of 6.6 million hectoliters (5.6 million US barrels) .

History

The Cuauhtémoc brewery was founded in Monterrey in 1890 by Jorgé Calderón, Isaac Garza José A. Muguerza, Francisco G. Sada, Joseph M. Schnaider, Wilhelm Hasse, with capital of 150,000 pesos, starting with the Carta Blanca brand. Cuauhtémoc brewery produced its first beer barrel in 1893 and won first prize in the Chicago and Paris world fairs.

In 1909 Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc had expanded vertically. To provide glass bottles, in 1909, was founded Vidrios y Cristales de Monterrey S.A., later Vidriera Monterrey, S.A. In order to produce boxes, bottle caps, and packaging materials, in 1900 Fabricas de Carton Monterrey.

During the Mexican Revolution, its original founders backed Victoriano Huerta. As consequence his rival Venustiano Carranza seized the brewery and the founders' families fled to Texas. They got the brewery back through the intervention of U.S. and Russian diplomats.

The Sociedad Cuauhtemoc was founded in 1918 to provide medical and educative services to the worker's families, the final objective was to provide a welfare system to avoid strikes. The working day was reduced from 12 to nine hours in 1907.

The vertical integration continued and Vitro, a glass company, and Titán, the cardboard box company. In 1929, Malta, S.A. was established to produce malt for the brewery.

By 1936 the holdings of the Garza and Sada families and their associates had been divided into two groups: the Cuauhtemoc (brewery) group and the Vidriera (glass) group. In that year the family's holdings were reorganized, with Valores Industriales S.A. (Visa) created as a holding company controlling the majority of shares of the firms formerly held by Cuauhtemoc, especially Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc and Famosa.

Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma was headed by the two Garza Sada brothers Eugenio Garza Sada (assassinated in 1973 in a kidnapping attempt by Mexican left-wing guerrillas) and Roberto Garza Sada. Visa, the Cerveceria Cuauthtemoc Moctezuma's holding, was split into two units: Visa and Grupo Industrial Alfa. Alfa received Hylsa and cash while Visa retained the brewery business and its stake in the Banco de Londres and its affiliated institutions. Eugenio Garza Laguera, a son of Eugenio Garza Sada, was named CEO of Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma, and Bernardo Garza Sada a son of Roberto Garza Sada was named CEO of Alfa.

When oil prices fell in 1981, Mexico's economic boom, financed with borrowed money, came to a screeching halt. Visa found itself more than $1 billion in debt the following year, and the federal government nationalized Banca Serfin--the nation's third-largest bank--in which Visa held a 77 percent stake. The nondeposit banks and associated financial companies in Grupo Financiero Serfin, not nationalized, were reorganized into a new financial-services group called Valores de Monterrey (Vamsa). Vamsa's life-insurance subsidiary, Seguros Monterrey, was the largest in Mexico.

Adding to Visa's problems was dissatisfaction within the extended family. Javier Garza Calderon, who owned 45 percent of the holding company, tried unsuccessfully to wrest Visa from Eugenio, David, and Alejandro Garza Laguera, who controlled the rest. He filed several suits charging Eugenio with mishandling the administration of the conglomerate but was ultimately unsuccessful in winning control. In 1991 Garza Calderon's father, Javier Garza Sepulveda, tried to gain control of Visa through his Grupo Center. He also failed but made a big profit by selling his family's stock back to Visa for $428 million.

With the integration of the Moctezuma brewery in 1985, the brands XX, Superior, Sol and Noche Buena were added to the brands Carta Blanca, Tecate, Bohemia and Indio.

In 1943, company executive Eugenio Garza Sada with his brother and other prominent people founded the ITESM, and in 1973, the Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame was opened at the site of the company headquarters.

In 1994 it sold a 22 percent share of FEMSA's beer business to John Labatt Ltd. of Canada and signed an agreement with Labatt to associate their respective companies in the United States.

Breweries

Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma

The company operates plants in Monterrey, Tecate, Navojoa, Guadalajara, Toluca, Orizaba and for 2010 one in Chihuahua.

The company has an annual production of 660,000,000 L (174,400,000 U.S. gal; 145,200,000 imp gal) (see also US gallons), 6,600,000 hL or 660,000 m³.

The Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery can be visited. Hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 to 17:00 and Saturday from 9:00 to 14:00. Tours are available free of charge and are offered in both English and Spanish.

The Brewery has a beer garden which offers a free glass of Bohemia, Dos Equis or Carta Blanca. The Garden features old brewery machines and a century-old beer truck. The garden's hours are every day from 10:00 to 18:00 hrs.

Beers

Bohemia beer

The company produces a range of pale and dark lagers, including Bohemia, Noche Buena and Sito de Kaiser. The latter is not yet imported into the US market.

Michelada and Cerveza Indio

Superior

Meant to be the "Superior" beer.

Carta Blanca

The brewery's original premium beer. Carta Blanca takes its name from the French "carte blanche". Carta Blanca beer is meant as a token of thanks and respect to customers.

Sol

Introduced in the 1890s, originally called El Sol. The logo and presentation has not been changed. Sol beer is for sale in 4 sizes in Mexico: 500 ml (16.91 U.S. fl oz; 17.60 imp fl oz) (see also US fluid ounce) 355 ml (12.00 U.S. fl oz; 12.49 imp fl oz)-not refundable, aluminium can, 325 ml (10.99 U.S. fl oz; 11.44 imp fl oz) bottles and 940 ml (31.79 U.S. fl oz; 33.08 imp fl oz), this last is know as Caguama. New variations from Cerveza Sol arrive just this year: Sol Cero (non-alcohol beer), Sol Brava (a dark beer in a light dark bottle with a better flavor), Sol Light and Sol Sal y Limon (Sol with lime and salt).

Indio

The beer was originally named "Cerveza Cuauhtémoc" however many people simply asked for an "Indio" because of the picture of the Indian on the clay bottle. Indio beer has 3 sizes: Aluminium can 325 ml (10.99 U.S. fl oz; 11.44 imp fl oz), 355 ml (12.00 U.S. fl oz; 12.49 imp fl oz)-not refundable and 325 ml (10.99 U.S. fl oz; 11.44 imp fl oz) bottles or .

Bohemia

Bohemia takes its name from the Czech region that is one of the most recognized brewing areas in the World. It was launched at the turn of the 20th century as Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma's finest beer. Over the years, it has become the most awarded of Mexican beers.

Dos Equis

Dos Equis (XX)

Dos Equis is a pale lager that was originally brewed by the German brewer Wilhelm Hasse in 1897. The brand was named "Siglo XX" ("20th century") to commemorate the arrival of the new century, and the bottles were marked with the Roman numerals "XX", or "Dos Equis" (two Xs).

The main brand Dos Equis XX Special Lager is a 4.45% abv pale lager sold in green bottles. Dos Equis XX Amber is a 4.7% Vienna-style amber lager sold in brown bottles, and was first exported to the United States in 1973.

Tecate beer

Tecate and Tecate Light are popular pale lagers named after the city of Tecate, Baja California, where they were first produced. Originally brewed by a local company, Tecate was acquired by Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma in 1955. Tecate is sold in both distinctive red aluminium cans and in twist-top bottles. Tecate Light was launched in 1992 by Ing. Hector Emilio Ayala, who was the project manager.

The custom of squeezing a lime into Mexican beer began with Tecate beer. The original brewmaster was of Scottish descent (last name Lorimer), who brought the idea from Great Britain where sailors would be given limes with their daily ration of grog to stave off scurvy (this is where the expression "limey" came from).

Noche Buena

Noche Buena beer, showing the Poinsetta (Noche Buena) and a volume of 355 ml (12.0 U.S. fl oz; 12.5 imp fl oz) on the label.

This brand of beer is only in the market in December.

Advertising

In 2007, Dos Equis inaugurated its current advertising campaign, "The Most Interesting Man in the World."

The advertisements feature a semi-bearded, debonair, American or Spanish gentleman roughly in his 50s (portrayed by actor Jonathan Goldsmith ). While vaguely Spanish music plays in the background, the advertisements featured a montage of daring exploits involving "the most interesting man" when he was younger (the younger man looks very similar to Fidel Castro). The precise settings are never revealed, but he performs interesting feats, such as: freeing an angry bear from a painful-looking bear trap, shooting a pool trick shoot before an Indian audience (by shooting the cue ball out of the mouth of a man laying on the pool table), catching a marlin while cavorting in a Hemingway-esque scene with a beautiful, young woman, winning an arm-wrestling match in a South American setting, surfing the killer wave, and bench pressing two East Asian young women in a casino setting, each woman being seated in a chair. While the shots are being displayed a narrator mentions hilarious aspects of his personality, such as: "he lives vicariously through himself","he once taught a German shepherd to bark in Spanish", "his personality is so magnetic, he is unable to carry credit cards", "he never says something tastes like chicken – not even chicken", "he's been known to cure narcolepsy, just by walking into a room", "his blood smells like cologne", "he once had an awkward moment, just to see how it felt", "his organ donor card also lists his beard", and "even his enemies list him as their emergency contact number", always ending with "he is the most interesting man in the world."

At the end of the advertisement, the interesting man says, "I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis." Each commercial ends with a signature sign-off: "Stay thirsty, my friends." The sign-off is also a Dos Equis sponsored website featuring the latest commercials and other information (which requires age verification).

Shorter television commercials feature the man giving his opinions on various subjects, such as pick-up lines ("There's a time and a place for them. The time is never. You can figure out the place on your own.") or the two-party system ("The after party is the one you want to attend.")

Soccer Teams sponsored

First Division

• C.F. Monterrey (Carta Blanca)
• Chivas de Guadalajara (Sol)
• Cruz Azul (Sol)
• Indios de Ciudad Juárez (Tecate)
• Jaguares de Chiapas (Sol)

• Monarcas Morelia (Sol)
• Pachuca (Sol)
• Tecos UAG (Sol)
• UANL Tigres (Carta Blanca)

Primera A

• CD Veracruz (Sol)
• Querétaro FC (Sol)
• Rayados de Monterrey (Carta Blanca)
• Tigres B (Carta Blanca)

External links

• Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma
• FEMSA
• Sol beer
• Michael Jackson's Beer Hunter
• RateBeer
• Dos Equis
• Stay Thirsty, My Friends
• The Most Interesting Academy
• Tecate
• Cerveza Sol