08/01/2008 09h26
Tatuzinho increases capacity and aims at foreign market
Gazeta Mercantil 08/01/2008
While the national market of industrialized cachaça (a Brazilian distilled alcoholic beverage) has remained stable in the recent years - estimates indicate a volume of up to 1 billion liters of the beverage are sold a year -, Indústrias Reunidas de Bebidas Tatuzinho (IRBT), which produces Velho Barreiro, is preparing a series of investments to meet the growth demand that accumulates an 18% increase in 2008 and should end the year with a production of 42 million liters. Among the projects are the increase of the plant of Rio Claro (SP), which may receive four new tanks with capacity to store up to 5 million liters - the company currently has 18 1-million-liter tanks -, the setting up of a new plant in the Northeast, probably in Bahia, and even though one unit in Portugal. The plant in Europe still depends on several factors to come out of the paper. Among them is the acknowledgment of the origin of the cachaça and the negotiation of incentives, which may make the project unfeasible. Notwithstanding that the company prepares an offensive in the European market with ready-to-drink Caipirinha (a Brazilian cocktail). According to César Rosa, president of IRBT, the lower taxation - the taxes falling upon the sale of pure cachaça are higher due to the volume of alcohol, 40% compared to 17% of the volume those mixed with fruit -, as well as the higher added value, are making the company bet on the sale of the product. Therefore, the company changed the formula of the lemon drink, created one with passion fruit and changed all the packings, previously in can - some countries charge a recycling fee to authorize the entrance of aluminum cans -, to 200 milliliter glass bottles. The company also studies exporting Caipirinha in 700 milliliter bottles. With that strategy, the exportation should reach 60 thousand boxes of Caipirinha, compared to the 30 thousand boxes of 2007. In total, including the sales of pure cachaça, the exportations must totalize up to 5% of the earnings, compared to 3% of 2007.
