Portuguese 
English 
Spanish 
3 min of reading 
Ambev Expects Its Future to Be More Digital and Innovative. To This End, the Brewery Has Already Invested in Initiatives Such as Zé Delivery and Bees
On the first day of Ambev’s Investor Day, April 12, Jean Jereissati, CEO of the brewery, stated that “being just a beverage company no longer represents us.” From this, he announced the transformation the company will undergo. At the event, Ambev’s management is expected to detail the company’s plans for investors and analysts.
Known as the largest brewery in all of Latin America, Ambev’s challenge is to transform itself to remain in constant development. Jean emphasized that the brewery sees itself as a “brand platform,” being a reference in the entire beverage sales sector. To achieve the desired transformation, the first step is digitalization, already initiated by investments in the metaverse.
Innovative Initiatives
In this regard, Ambev already has three innovation projects aimed at its most important customers. One of them is the Zé Delivery app for home beverage delivery, developed seven years ago. Only in December 2021, the app reached nearly 5 million active users and has stood out in Ambev’s surveys since the pandemic began.
-
A ship is adapted to transport the largest nuclear container in history: the TN Eagle weighs 150 tons and is 5 meters long.
-
From the outside, it looks like a small house, but inside, the 33 m² container house surprises with a living room, a functional kitchen, a comfortable bedroom, custom-made furniture, a spacious balcony, and a separate service area with a bathroom and laundry room.
-
Joliet approves the largest US data center in Illinois with $20 billion and 1.8 GW, marking a new round in the race for AI capacity
-
Underground wall construction to contain the advance of the sea is already over 50% complete in Balneário Camboriú, in the Barra Sul region, while the reurbanization of the waterfront is progressing faster than expected with 1,820 new trees and 12 playgrounds planned for Praia Central.
In addition to this initiative, the brewery has Bees, a marketplace aimed at bars and restaurants created in 2019. Last year, the app reached 370,000 clients and shows a growth capacity of 80%, according to Ambev’s estimates. Under the Bees brand, there is also the fintech Bees Bank, which serves small and medium-sized enterprises. In about two years, it already has 220,000 accounts opened and R$ 1 billion in TPV (total payment transactions).
Reports reveal that the brewery’s new fronts have great growth potential, which is the company’s objective. An indication of the change in direction is the strategy of evaluating the company’s performance by the return on invested capital, ROIC, and placing more emphasis on it over EBITDA, the traditional operational cash indicator.
Brand Growth Projections
Thus, the CEO of Ambev stated: “As we develop new businesses with different financial profiles, we believe that ROIC will be the best metric to fully capture the value of a company that is transforming.”
The brewery’s digital advancement aims to provide various solutions and, in this way, trigger the company’s expansion. The inspiration comes from the company’s golden years, when, in the first 15 years, Ambev’s EBITDA increased more than 10 times with the business boom.
“However, after 2015 we began to face some difficulties. Sales volume plateaued, margins deteriorated, EBITDA stopped growing, and our market value began to reflect that. The macroeconomic aspect played a significant role [in this scenario], but the truth is that the industry changed and we did not adapt. The time has come to evolve the growth model, to transform the company through technology,” declared Jean Jereissati.
The biggest question is how to implement this change in the brand. Many investors, excited about Ambev’s action plan, raised the company’s shares by more than 3% on the eve of Investor Day. However, the challenge of explaining the brewery’s strategy is significant, given that the “transformation is still in the early stages,” as explained by Lucas Lira, CFO of Ambev.
He added: “We are seeking many opportunities not only in our core business but also in our technological capabilities – which, if executed well, can unlock long-term value creation in a sustainable manner.”
For Lucas Lira, the Bees initiative is a perfect example of what the brewery expects for its future. “It is something very different in terms of business model, which would not have had space in Ambev some time ago. Bees showed us that this is possible: it accelerated the growth of the core business by helping us better serve our customers. The result is smarter campaigns, better product offerings, and revenue management tools via technology. With this, we expanded our distribution reach not only for beer but also for non-alcoholic beverages, unlocking new business opportunities.”
Be the first to react!