Growth (1950–1999)
In 1950, a second brewery began operations in Barcelona, Anzoátegui, in eastern Venezuela; the following year another plant was added in Los Cortijos, Caracas, complementing the production of the Antímano plant. In 1960, another brewery was established in Maracaibo to serve western Venezuela.
By then, with three breweries in operation and with corn flakes (maize) as one of the main ingredients of the beer formula devised by Roubicek, the company decided to build its own corn processing plant in Turmero, Aragua, in order to replace imports of this raw material. This decision would be a decisive step in the later development of the food business.
In 1951, the first non-alcoholic beverage of Cervecería Polar, called Maltín Polar, was introduced.
Carlos Eduardo Stolk Mendoza, cousin of Lorenzo Alejandro Mendoza Fleury, after representing Venezuela at the United Nations during World War II, became president of Empresas Polar in 1952. His leadership contributed to a very important growth period until his retirement in 1985. Dr. Stolk was responsible for the name of the Harina P.A.N. brand and the launch of this project, and also took the first steps toward the creation and development of Fundación Polar, among other initiatives for customers, employees, and shareholders.
The corn processing plant began in 1960 the production of the precooked corn flour Harina P.A.N., based on Venezuelan patent 5176, acquired by the family company from Venezuelan mechanical engineer Luis Caballero Mejías, who invented the respective industrial process in 1954 for his own company La Arepera, C.A.[2][3] This launch made the preparation of the traditional Venezuelan arepa less laborious, since it no longer required pilado maize but precooked corn flour.
Juan Lorenzo Mendoza Quintero proposed the creation of the non-profit civil association “El Puntal,” aimed at reinforcing the social action already being carried out by the company’s facilities in their localities, both for workers and their families and for the community. This would be one of his last initiatives, as Mendoza Quintero died suddenly in 1962.
In this circumstance, his father, Lorenzo Mendoza Fleury, resumed the leadership of the company, which incorporated other products such as corn oil in 1966 and animal feed in 1967, with the creation of Procría.
In 1969, Mendoza Fleury died and his other son, Lorenzo Alejandro Mendoza Quintero, a psychiatrist, assumed leadership. Under his guidance, a retirement plan for the company’s workers was created in 1972. He also promoted the idea of building a large brewery complex in the center of the country, whose construction began on December 5, 1975, in San Joaquín, Carabobo, and which started operating in 1978.[1] Later, in 1977, the Fundación Polar was created, known since 2006 as Fundación Empresas Polar, which centralized the social initiatives of the Venezuelan consortium and was chaired by Leonor Giménez de Mendoza, wife of Mendoza Quintero.[4]
In 1985, together with the French company Casa Martell, Empresas Polar founded Bodegas Pomar, thus beginning commercial wine production in Venezuela.[5] From 1986, the company entered the rice processing and packaging business and, the following year, into pasta and ice cream by acquiring Helados EFE. In February 1987, Lorenzo Alejandro Mendoza Quintero died, and both his widow, Leonor Giménez de Mendoza, and his brother’s widow, Morella Pacheco Ramella, took over the management of the company.[1]
In 1991, on the 50th anniversary of Cervecería Polar, the company changed its name to "Empresas Polar". On the grounds of the first plant, already demolished, the Centro de Atención Nutricional Infantil Antímano (Cania) was built, specializing in the interdisciplinary treatment of child malnutrition.
In 1992, Lorenzo Mendoza Giménez and Juan Lorenzo Mendoza Pacheco, members of the third generation of the Mendoza family, took over the leadership of Empresas Polar. This step led the company in 1993 into the soft drink business with the acquisition of Golden Cup, which until then only covered central Venezuela with two small plants.
In December 1996, through a strategic alliance with international partner PepsiCo, Pepsi-Cola Venezuela C.A. was created, after the Organización Cisneros gave up this brand.[6][7] That year also marked the beginning of its food business in Colombia, with offices in Bogotá and a production plant for precooked corn flour, oats, and ready-to-eat arepas in Facatativá, near the capital.
