Our Story

1970 to 1980

Solar as we know it today is the result of more than 40 years of experience and tradition in the beverage market. It is a trajectory marked by the conquest of new challenges through the acquisition of new operations and consolidations within the Coca-Cola System.

In 1977, businessman Luiz Carlos Lomba de Mello acquired control of Renosa – Refrigerantes do Noroeste S.A., a franchised manufacturer of Coca-Cola for the State of Mato Grosso.

In 1983, the Calila Group acquires the Coca-Cola concession for Ceará, initiating the formation of Refrescos Cearenses S.A. and opening a new factory in the same year.

Also in 1983, Refrescos Guararapes was founded, operating in Pernambuco and Paraíba and controlled by the Sergipe group Albano Franco.

1990s

The first expansion of this group of manufacturers came in 1994, when Refrescos Cearenses acquired Poty Refrigerantes Ltda, then a franchised bottler in Rio Grande do Norte.

In 1998, the consolidation process of what would become Solar began. Refrescos Cearenses merges with Grupo Aragão, at the time a Coca-Cola franchisee in Piauí and in the Vitória da Conquista (BA) area, and also with The Coca-Cola Company, at the head of operations in the rest of Bahia. The merger of the companies gives rise to the creation of Nordeste Refrigerantes S.A. (Norsa).

Another important milestone took place in 1999, when Refrescos Guararapes inaugurated the Suape factory, one of the largest and most modern factories of the Coca-Cola System in Latin America at the time, according to the 14th edition of Revista Negócios Pernambuco.

2000s

The 2000s moved forward on the path of consolidation. In 2001, Refrescos Guararapes incorporated Sucovalle, then a franchised manufacturer for the region of Petrolina (PE) and northern Bahia. In the same year, Refrescos Guararapes became controlled by The Coca-Cola Company.

In 2006, Renosa acquired Companhia Maranhense de Refrigerantes and expands its Coca-Cola franchise to Maranhão and northern Tocantins.

2011

In 2011, Renosa made two more acquisitions: it incorporated Companhia de Alimentos e Bebidas do São Francisco (CBA), manufacturer of Coca-Cola for Alagoas, Sergipe and part of Bahia, and Companhia de Águas Funcionais do Nordeste (CAF), manufacturer of Crystal Mineral Water.

With these last movements, the contour of the map of what would become Solar was defined.

2013

In 2013, Solar appears. The unification of Renosa (from the group of the same name), Norsa Refrigerantes S.A. (owned by Grupo Calila) and Refrescos Guararapes Ltda. (owned by The Coca Cola Company) forms The Coca Cola Company’s largest Brazilian capital manufacturer, with a territory covering the entire Northeast Region, the state of Mato Grosso and parts of Goiás and Tocantins.

2015

We entered the dairy category with the acquisition of Verde Campo, through Leão Alimentos e Bebidas

2016

We strengthen our energy drink portfolio with the Monster brand, which, 3 years later, became the leader in total sales volume, according to data published by Nielsen.

2017

In 2017, we concluded the project to unify the ERPs of the consolidated companies and, in the same year, we started operating our Shared Services Center.

Aiming at increasing the use and efficiency of our assets, this year we carried out a Greenfield, with the review of our industrial network.

This was also a year to make our portfolio even more complete. We entered the vegetable drinks category with the acquisition, together with the Coca-Cola Latin America system, of the AdeS brand, leader in the category.

2018

Expansion of the returnable portfolio production in Solar’s territory, started this year with the installation of a new line in Maranhão, followed by the modernization of the lines in Mato Grosso and Bahia in the following years. Investment aligned with our organic growth pillar of Rentability with an accessible and sustainable portfolio, which generates value for the business, contributing to the development of consumption habits through recruitment and frequency, and fostering trade and consumer loyalty.

2019

Internalization of Kapo production with the installation of two lines in Alagoas and Pernambuco, the first Tetrapak lines of Grupo Solar.

2020

Launch of Super App Solar, an ecosystem of solutions for customers to improve their shopping experience, through an omni-channel approach.

2021

In 2021, from a corporate reorganization, Solar Bebidas S.A. was born. Today the Company is the second largest bottler of Coca-Cola products in Brazil and one of the 18 leading bottlers of the Coca-Cola System in the world.

This year was also marked by the redesign of the agreement between the Coca-Cola Brasil System (and its network of bottlers) and the Heineken Group. We then began operating under the Eisenbahn, Dos Equis, Kaiser, Bavária, Sol and Tiger brands. For selected territories, there is an additional agreement with Solar for the distribution of the entire Heineken portfolio, adding the following brands to the previously listed portfolio: Glacial, Schin, Devassa, Baden Baden, Heineken and Amstel.

The Tiger beer brand, belonging to the Heineken portfolio, was launched in 2021. The brand was born in Singapore and came to make up our mainstream portfolio, a relevant segment in the beer category. The year 2021 was also marked by new partnerships established by the company, further strengthening its portfolio:

• Estrella Galicia: we signed a brand distribution agreement in our territory, together with the entire Coca-Cola system in Brazil.

 

• Mondelez – we signed a memorandum of understanding with the company to carry out a pilot project for the distribution of certain products in a restricted territory and for a limited period, without exclusivity, with a view to evaluating the viability of a possible future distribution partnership between companies.

• Campari – we signed a memorandum of understanding with the company through which we intend to start a pilot, preliminary and temporary project, for the distribution, by Solar, of certain Campari products, aiming at the subsequent consolidation of a long-term commercial relationship to be structured according to the standards applied by the Coca-Cola System.

2022

On August 9, 2021, Solar and Grupo Simões entered into an Association Agreement, later amended on 12.30.2021, which established the terms and conditions for implementing the combination of beverage businesses.

Grupo Simões, founded in 1943, started a partnership with Coca-Cola in 1970, operating in the beverage market in the North region, with its subsidiaries, Brasil Norte Bebidas S.A., Benevides Águas S.A. and Companhia Paraense de Refrigerantes. These companies operate in the production, bottling and distribution of beverages from the TCCC product portfolio and in the distribution of products from the Heineken portfolio in the states of Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia and Roraima.

On August 10, 2021, the managements of the Company and the Simões Group signed the protocol and justification for the merger of the Simões Group into the Company, which was added on January 26, 2022, in which the shareholders of these companies approved the merger at general meetings of shareholders.

Therefore, from January 2022, Solar Bebidas expanded its business with the incorporation of Sipasa S.A, Coca-Cola bottler of the Simões Group, in the North of Brazil.