Grupo Modelo Plans New $64 Million Malting Plant in Idaho

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Mexico's number one brewing company Grupo Modelo S.A. de C.V. (Colonia Lomas de Chapultepec, Mexico) (Mexican Stock Exchange: GMODELOC) has selected a location in Idaho Falls, Idaho for the site of a new $64 million malting plant.

The company plans to process about 6.4 million bushels of locally grown barley into malt to be used in Modelo products like Corona Extra beer. The malt from the plant will be rail transported down to Mexico where the company will use the malt feedstock in eight breweries it operates. Modelo is the top seller of imported beer in the U.S. and ranked number five among the world's brewers.

Idaho ranks second in the U.S. in barley production, harvesting over 730,000 acres in 2000, which was one of the leading factors in Modelo choosing Idaho for its first U.S. plant.

Idaho Falls is located roughly 200 miles east of Boise in the center of Idaho's barley growing region.

Plans are to begin construction on the new facility within the next couple months and completion is scheduled for sometime late 2004 or early 2005.

Modelo, founded in 1925, is the leader in the production and marketing of beer in Mexico with more than 60.7% domestic and export market share. It has eight breweries in the country, with a total annual installed capacity of 46.0 millionhectoliters. Currently it brews and distributes ten brands including the number one Mexican beer sold in the world, Corona Extra.