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The company was born in Tubarão, in the south of Santa Catarina, and broke the energy drink can paradigm by betting on PET bottles. Today it earns R$ 1.8 billion and aims for 1 billion liters produced in 2026. The new park will occupy the former site of Alliance One, a tobacco processor that left the region after decades of operation.
Baly, a Santa Catarina manufacturer that surpassed Red Bull and Monster and took the lead in the Brazilian energy drink market in December 2025, is advancing with the new factory in Araranguá, in the Extreme South of Santa Catarina. The unit is expected to generate more than a thousand direct and indirect jobs and start operating in the second half of 2026, further expanding the company’s production capacity.
The most recent announcement about the schedule was made on May 26, 2026, by the Santa Catarina portal 4oito. According to the company, the planning is in the final stage of technical projects and licenses, and the next step is the total vacating of the area by Alliance One, a tobacco processor that still occupies the land and is expected to leave it in July. After that, the main works of the first phase will begin, focusing on the installation of production lines.
The scale of leadership in numbers
According to the ScannShare survey by Scanntech, cited by publications such as Exame, IstoÉ Dinheiro, and Painel Político, in December 2025 Baly reached a 34.9% share of the Brazilian energy drink market, compared to Monster’s 30.3% and about 13% for Red Bull. It is important to note, however, that Baly led the year in four months (March, April, July, and December), while it surpassed Red Bull in all months of 2025.
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Between 2022 and 2025, according to NielsenIQ, the company grew by 42%, more than double the expansion of the Brazilian energy drink market in the same period, estimated at 21%. The revenue for 2025 was around R$ 1.8 billion, and the goal for 2026, according to IstoÉ Dinheiro, is to reach R$ 2.5 billion and surpass for the first time 1 billion liters produced in the year, compared to 205 million in 2024. The numbers show aggressive growth, even though part of this leadership continues to fluctuate with Monster over the months.
From Tubarão to the Extreme South of SC
Baly was born in Tubarão, a city of about 115,000 inhabitants in southern Santa Catarina, and built its history on a strategic turnaround: the bet on energy drinks in PET bottles, launched during the 2009 Carnival. The innovation, according to the commercial and marketing director Dayane Titon Cardoso, in an interview with Exame, “democratized the drink among new consumers, especially in groups of friends and families,” and changed the way the product was consumed in bars, supermarkets, and wholesale stores.
Today the company has four strategic units in Santa Catarina, including manufacturing parks in Tubarão and Treze de Maio, and the administrative and logistics complex also in Tubarão. With the arrival of the Araranguá factory, the Tubarão unit will focus on the brand’s distilled products, such as vodka and gin, while Treze de Maio remains dedicated to Baly Bier beer. The international expansion includes distribution in Uruguay, Paraguay, Mexico, Chile, and the United States.
What changes in Araranguá
The new plant in the Extreme South of Santa Catarina will occupy a total area of 500,000 square meters, with about 100,000 square meters of built area. The space was acquired from Alliance One Brasil, one of the largest tobacco processors in the world, which had been reducing operations in the country in recent years. The reactivation of the industrial complex is seen as an important move for the region’s economy, which receives a large-scale industrial operation right after the departure of another.
With 100% of the new unit dedicated to the production of energy drinks, Baly also expands the range of new categories planned for the portfolio. In a recent interview with Rádio Som Maior, Dayane Titon Cardoso stated that the company plans to launch flavored waters, protein waters, and vitamin waters, within a line of functional products. “It is a very modern and highly sustainable factory,” said the director, justifying the investment in state-of-the-art machinery.
More than a thousand jobs and regional impact
According to the company, the new Araranguá factory is expected to generate more than a thousand direct and indirect jobs, in a city experiencing a moment of population and economic growth in the Extreme South of Santa Catarina. Currently, Baly directly employs about 1,500 people in its operations in the state, which shows the weight of the expansion for the regional labor market.
The movement attracts the attention of the region’s municipalities and the state government itself, especially because it occupies a space that was being left by Alliance One, preventing an economic void in a city closely tied to industry. For southern Santa Catarina, it is another chapter of industrial strengthening, in a year when other large companies are also announcing investments in the region.
The context of energy drink growth
Baly’s success is part of a larger wave. The Brazilian energy drink market has been consistently growing in recent years, driven by younger consumers, new flavors, PET packaging, and expansion beyond major urban centers. The sugar-free product line, for example, was one of the fastest-growing, and Baly positions itself as a leader in this specific segment as well.
It is important to note, however, that health entities, such as the World Health Organization and Brazilian agencies, warn about the risks of excessive energy drink consumption, especially among teenagers, due to the high caffeine and sugar content in traditional versions. This debate, which does not diminish Baly’s business achievement, usually accompanies the category’s expansion and is expected to gain more attention as consumption continues to grow in the country.
The turnaround of a national brand
The symbolism of leadership in a market historically dominated by multinationals did not escape the company’s founder, Mário Cardoso, who described the moment as proof that a national brand can compete and lead against major global names. Baly demonstrates how a company from the interior of Santa Catarina, with innovative packaging, aggressive distribution, and consumer insight, managed to change the board of a highly competitive sector.
The next chapter, with the new factory in Araranguá, will test whether this leadership is sustained and expanded in the following months, or if it will be contested again by Monster and Red Bull throughout 2026. For the Santa Catarina consumer, the story has an extra flavor: seeing a brand from their own region competing on equal footing with giants from Austria and the United States, and building an industrial network within the state itself.
Baly’s trajectory sums up a rare moment for Brazilian entrepreneurship: a company born in a city of just over 100,000 inhabitants that, through innovation and commercial strategy, became a national leader in a sector dominated by multinationals. The new factory in Araranguá expands this story, generating jobs, expanding the portfolio and taking the name of Santa Catarina even further. It remains to be seen how the company will deal with fierce competition and the growing debate about energy drink consumption in the country.
And you, had you heard that the leader of the Brazilian energy drink market is a company from Santa Catarina? Do you believe that Baly can maintain its lead over Monster and Red Bull in 2026? Leave your comment, tell us which energy drink brand you prefer, and share the article with those interested in economics, industry, and the success of companies born in Brazil.
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