Chile - When it comes to soft drinks business, 2011 was an interesting year for Chile. According to the National Soft Drink Association (ANBER), the sale of soft drinks, tea drinks, juices, nectars, water and sports drinks totaled 2.449 million liters last year, representing an increase of 4.8% from 2010. The president of ANBER, Francisco Diharasarri, stated that the growth was driven by the sharp rise experienced in 2011 by the emerging categories of sports drinks and tea – which tripled its growth over 2010.
One of the main reasons for the performance pointed by ANBER was the strengthening of returnable packaging. The companies associated with ANBER adopted as a policy several investments to reorganize the local returnable packaging chain. The other reason was the fortification of traditional sales channels. More than 100,000 small and medium dealers were supported through loyalty programs and investments in cooling equipments.
