Efes actually started operation in 1969 and it had undergone through many growth and expansions from that time until this time. For the purpose of this paper, its history is focused on events that happened during 2000s although there also other big and significant developments during 1990s (Anadolu Efes, 2009). The company has undergone some many changes during 2000s. In 2000, The Efes Beverage Group merged its four publicly listed brewing and malting companies under one publicly listed entity under the new company named “Anadolu Efes.
” The company also licensed brewing of Miller Genuine Draft (MGD) in Istanbul Brewery – Turkey that was commenced under a license agreement during the same year. It was also in 2000 that Cola-Cola Bottlers of Turkey re-organized under two companies “Coca-Cola Icecek Uretim” (production) and “Coca-Cola Satis ve Dagitim” (sales marketing) (Anadolu Efes, 2009). In 2001, Stary Melnik became Moscow’s leading beer in premium segment (2001). Efes Ukdraine Brewery, established as a joint venture with INVESCO CEAM in Odessa-Ukraine during the same year (Anadolu Efes, 2009)..
In 2002, Anadolu Efes launched its new logo and packaging for its Efes Pilsen , Efes Pilsener, Efes Light, Efes Dark and Efes Extra Brands, thus providing for a mere contemporary look, in line with expectations of the consumers. During the same year, Anadolu Efes signed a licensed agreement with Interbrew for the production, marketing, and distribution of “Becks” brand in Turkey (Anadolu Efes, 2009). It was also starting in 2002 and finishing in 2003 when the company increased its capital thereby allocating placement in order to provide external funding to further accelerate its rapidly growing operations.
Another significant event in 2002 is EBG’s introduction of its leading German brand “Warsteiner Premium Verum” to the Russian beer market, in the licensed premium segment. During the same period, the company had its Turkish Coco-Cola Bottling operations restructured to operate as a production company. At the same time, Coca-Cola Icecek A. S. (CCI) and a sales and marketing company, which became a wholly owned subsidiary of CCI became part of the company (Anadolu Efes, 2009). In 2003, it acquired the Vitanta Intravest S.
A. brewery, the leader of the Moldovian beer, soft drinks and water markets, located in Chisinau, Moldova. It was also during 2003 that its production commenced in Rostov, the new green-field brewery in Russia. Other significant event of 2003 include the start of the production in the brand new brewery in Almaty, Kazakhstan, acquisition of the of the Amstar Brewery located in Ufa, in the Urals region of Russia, and acquisition of the majority shares of the Pancevo Brewery in Serbia, located on the outskirts of Belgrade.
The name of the brewery changes to “Efes Weifert” (Anadolu Efes, 2009). In 2004, it acquired the majority shares of the Zajecar Brewery in Serbia and it was from such event that Efes Breweries International (EBI) became the third largest brewing company in Serbia (Anadolu Efes, 2009). During 2004, it had also its initial public offering of EBI and listing of GDRs in the London Stock Exchange. During 2005, it had licensed brewing of Australia’s famous beer Foster’s in Turkey commenced and commenced operation in Russia for its licensed brewing of Czech beer “Zlatopramen”.
To address the increasing demand for Coca-Cola trademarked beverages in Kazakhstan, it had completed in 2005 the construction of the new production facility in Almaty and had it production commenced. At the same time, EBI increased its capacity to 11. 8 million hectoliters through increases in its plants in Ufa, Rostov and Moldova (Anadolu Efes, 2009). Other events in 2005 include the establishment of 50%-50% JV between Efes Invest and a local partner to exclusively sales and distribution rights for Coca-Cola trademarked beverages in Iraq and Efes Invest acquiring 90% of the “The Cola-Cola Bottling Company of Jordan”
In 2006, the significant events among others include the acquiring the 7th largest brewer in Russia, Krasny Vostol Brewing Group , EBI selling its 50% share in Interbrew Efes Brewery in Romania to InBev, EBI increased its shareholding in MEB to about 90. 9% In 2007, the company launched “Gusta” as Turkey’s first wheat beer and lemon and agave flavored “Mariachi” . It was also in 2007 that Mr. Alejandro Jimenez got appointed as the new Efes Beer Group President and the CEO and the Chairman of the Board of the Board Management of EBI (Anadolu Efes, 2009).
