Coca-Cola acquires AdeS soy drink brand from Unilever

Coca-Cola has completed the purchase of AdeS, a soy-based beverage company based in Argentina, from Unilever for $575m as part of its strategy to expand its plant-based beverage portfolio. 

AdeS was founded in 1988 and Unilever acquired the company in 2000. Its soy-based juice brands are available in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Chile, and Colombia.

In recent years, Coca-Cola has boosted its presence in Latin America's juice/dairy/plant-based category cluster through the acquisition of brands such as Jugos del Valle (multiple Latin America markets), Santa Clara (Mexico), Tonicorp (Ecuador), Estrella Azul (Panamá), and Verde Campo (Brazil).

The plant-based beverage category is “growing rapidly and is of great interest to our consumers and consumers across the markets that we serve,” Alfredo Rivera, president of the Latin America group at Coca-Cola, said.