AB InBev ‘to transform Colombia into a country even more committed to sustainable development’

27-Nov-2019 - Last updated on 27-Nov-2019 at 14:23 GMT

The opening of the Canpack facility in Colombia. Photo: Canpack

AB InBev has chosen Canpack as one of its partners to focus on its sustainable development objectives to ensure 100% of its packaging is recyclable or made from recycled materials by 2025.

With this in mind, Marcel Regis, president, Bavaria AB InBev, attended the opening of Canpack’s facility in Tocancipa, Colombia, claiming to deliver standard 330ml or 355ml and unique can sizes such as 269ml and 473ml for the market.

Potential for growth

Canpack, based in Poland, is part of Giorgi Global Holdings and the recently opened 75,000m² facility in Colombia will employ approximately 200 employees to produce more than 1.3 billion cans a year, expanding to 1.9 billion depending on business needs.

While Colombia will be the major market, cans produced in the Tocancipa facility will also be exported to neighboring countries.

“This investment has been founded upon a strong and trust-based relationship we have with AB InBev. We are looking forward to expanding our business operations in Colombia as we see great potential for growth within the Colombian market,” said Peter Giorgi, president/CEO, Giorgi Global Holdings.

Regis added AB InBev wants to transform Colombia into a country even more committed to sustainable development.

“For this reason, we have selected Canpack as one of our partners to leverage their experience and alignment with our sustainable development objectives,” he said.

“The goal we have set for 2025 is to ensure 100% of our packaging is recyclable or made from recycled materials. We are sure our close cooperation with Canpack will help us to achieve this goal.”

18-month project

The investment is also thanks to support from Colombian institutions and agencies responsible for promoting and attracting foreign investment to Colombia such as ProColombia and Invest in Bogota.

Camilo Pérez Bustos, general director, Canpack Colombia, said more than 2,000 people were involved in the 18-month long investment project.

“We believe our plant will serve as a worldwide standard for safety and quality, a world class manufacturing system, as well as the excellence of our employees, who have been trained in more than six countries across three continents,” he said.

Flavia Santoro, president, ProColombia, added as part of its role to attract foreign investments it is looking for responsible and sustainable investments ‘that contribute to the growth and competitiveness of our nation’.