Ajegroup

Ajegroup, commonly known as AJE, is a Peruvian multinational company dedicated to the manufacture, distribution and sale of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The company was founded by the Añaños-Jerí Family in 1988 in Ayacucho, Peru.[2] It is known for its flagship products Kola Real and Big Cola.

Ajegroup has approximately 10,000 employees and operates in 22 countries across five continents, placing it 12th among Latin American multinational companies.[3] Besides Peru and Mexico, Ajegroup also has operations in Brazil,[4] Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nigeria, Guatemala, Honduras, India,[3] Indonesia, Thailand, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Egypt. Its portfolio includes beverages, juices, nectars, light beverages, bottled natural water, dairy and beer. It manages 17 trademarks in 48 different presentations of PET and glass bottles, and also cans.

History

Strategy

Ajegroup employs certain strategies to help maintain its low cost economic plan. Ajegroup has bottling plants in Huejotzingo, Monterrey, and Guadalajara. The largest of the plants is in Huejotzingo, where production lines run for 24 hours a day, six days a week. Ajegroup therefore produces its own plastic bottles, which provides a low-cost alternative to glass returnable bottles and has helped brands like Big Cola compete with bigger names like Pepsi and Coca-Cola. Ajegroup also utilizes lean staffing to cut costs, and modern equipment and kaizen, or continuous improvement, to help reduce the number of workers on each of the Huejotzingo plant's seven production lines to eight, which is fewer than half that of a typical bottling facility. Ajegroup also gives deliveries to independent truckers rather than employing their own fleet of trucks and drivers, saving money on distribution. This, in addition to their minimal advertising technique, further reduces its costs. Ajegroup has had few television and billboard ads, and primarily relies on word of mouth to find customers.[7]

Latin America

After 19 years of business AJE finally entered the market in Lima in 1999 by employing a low price strategy, keeping all products approximately 25% cheaper than competitors.[8]

The first expansion outside of Peru was into Venezuela, followed by Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia and then Brazil.[9]

In 2007, Ajegroup entered the alcohol market. It launched its beer business in Peru, later expanding to Mexico and Colombia.[10]

In 2011, Ajegroup took out their first bond, worth 200 million US dollars to finance future growth.[11]

Asia

Ajegroup entered the Asian market in 2006[12] beginning with Thailand, which remains the center of Asian operations with Soren Lauridsen as Ajegroup's regional director for Asia and managing director of Aje Thailand since 2016.[13]

Ajegroup officially launched its flagship no-caffeine cola brand, Big Cola as a soft launch in December 2010 in Mumbai, India. They strategically made ties with the release of the Sony Pictures movie, 'The Amazing Spider-Man', in theaters. Big Cola launched limited editions of The Amazing Spider-Man bottles in three flavors until August 2012. According to Sorin Voinea, Director of Marketing (Asia Pacific), Ajegroup doesn't have intentions of necessarily competing with Coca-Cola and Pepsi, but more so, to follow their accomplishments. Big Cola is not only differentiating themselves through alternative methods of endorsement but also with being caffeine-free and having lower prices. While some are skeptical that Big Cola will stand out, Ajegroup's Sorin Voinea believes that their product has enough of its own identity to be successful in the Indian soft drink market. Devendra Chawla, president of the food & fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), says that the response to the brand has been good at Big Bazaar. “It is available at Big Bazaar in Mumbai and has done pretty well."[14][15]

Africa

In 2015 Ajegroup started expansion into Africa via Nigerian subsidiary AJEast Nigeria Limited led by Theo Williams, Country Manager Ajegroup.[16] Despite strong opposition from entrenched brands like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, the initial capital investment into Nigeria was around N5 billion.[17]

In 2018 Duet Private Equity Limited announced a $50 million investment in AJEast.[18] The investment led by Henry Gabay, CIO at Duet, is earmarked for expansion into additional African countries and increased market share in middle-income households in Nigeria and select West African markets.[19][20]

type	Private
foundation	1988
founder	Añaños-Jerí Family
location	Lima, Peru‡R1R‡
area served	Worldwide
key people	Angel Añaños (Chairman and CEO) Carlos Añaños (President)
num employees	10,000
industry	Beverage
products	Purified water, fruit juices, carbonated drinks, energy drinks, ready-to-drink teas, grocery foods and alcoholic drinks
homepage	www.ajegroup.com

History

Strategy

Latin America

Asia

Africa

Products

See also

External links

References