History Of Femsa

FEMSA's history began in 1890 with the founding of the brewery Cervecería Cuauhtémoc in Monterrey, N.L., thanks to a group of enthusiastic entrepreneurs led by Isaac Garza, José Calderón, José A. Muguerza, Francisco G. Sada, and Joseph M. Schnaider.

Under the trade name of Fábrica de Cerveza y Hielo Cuauhtémoc, the company started out with just 70 workers, 2 administrative employees, and 100,000 pesos' capital. The offices were located in a grocery store known as Casa Calderón on Padre Mier and Galeana streets. The plant was built on the site on which today's plant stands.

The first brand of beer to be marketed was Carta Blanca, followed by Saturno, which was withdrawn from the market after just a short time, and then disappeared.

Carta Blanca in a transparent bottle with a wire-reinforced cork became the company's leading-edge beer and one of the best selling brands in Mexico, a position which it still retains today.

In 1892 Cervecería Cuauhtémoc began the first of a long list of innovations, replacing the casks originally used for storing bottles with wooden crates that made transportation easier. That same year the offices were moved to the plant.

The launching of the first draft beer in 1893, called Cuauhtémoc, was so successful that draft beer production became a permanent aspect of the brewery's activities.

Carta Blanca obtained The Gold Medal in Chicago, the first such award conferred on a Mexican beer.

On October 20th, 1899, Fábrica de Vidrios y Cristales was founded to provide an internal supply of glass bottles. It employed expert glass blowers from abroad, but technical difficulties and high costs soon resulted in its temporary closure.

In 1900 numerous famous people, such as General Bernardo Reyes, the governor of the state of Nuevo León at the time, visited the Brewery.

Then in 1904, metal bottle caps replaced the reinforced corks that had been used previously. Cuauhtémoc was the first brewery to adopt this change which facilitated bottling and was more convenient for the consumer.

In the year 1905 The Bohemia brand was officially registered. The quality and special characteristics of this beer have made it one of the brewery's most famous brands and a favorite with connoisseurs.

Incredibly in 1908, HM Alfonso XIII, King of Spain, named Cervecería Cuauhtémoc as the official supplier of the royal household, entitling the brewery to use the Spanish Coat of Arms on its labels and stationery.

The production of glass bottles was revived with the founding of Vidriera Monterrey in 1909 which supplied all the glass bottles needed for the production of the beer.

The Cuauhtémoc Polytechnic School was initiated in 1911 to teach primary school, art, trades, high school and commerce. It also provided training for workers in electricity, fermentation, physics and chemistry.

In 1917 Eugenio Garza Sada joined the company as an assistant in the statistics department and later became the head of Cervecería Cuauhtémoc. At this time he defined one of the basic points of the company's philosophy, "People are more important than any economic consideration."

On March 30th,1918 the group incorporated the Sociedad Cooperativa de Ahorros e Inversiones para los Empleados y Operarios de la Cervecería Cuauhtémoc S.A. [Savings and Investment Union for the Cuauhtémoc Brewery's Employees and Workers], (known today as SCyF), in order to promote the integral development of the brewery's workers and their families. Its original objective was to provide them with groceries to improve their standard of living, as well as medical services, a savings bank, discounts, sports, courses and scholarships, among many other benefits.

In 1921Fábricas Monterrey, S.A. de C.V. (FAMOSA), which was originally one of the brewery's internal departments, became an independent company and was installed opposite the plant. This fabric, FAMOSA, began producing crown caps and then expanded its production to metal containers.

Then in 1923 a new process for the beer was discovered, the use of carbon dioxide gas helped to perfect the service of providing consumers with draft beer, a real success.

Also in 1926 Logistic department decided a new delivery process, glass bottles were packed in corrugated cardboard cases instead of wooden boxes, which was cheaper and with almost the same safety.

In 1929 a retail supply company (Compañía Comercial Distribuidora) was incorporated.

By the year 1930, the replacement of the original wooden casks used for storing draft beer by metal cylinders made it possible to pasteurize this kind of beer, giving the consumer a better product and completely eliminating carbon dioxide leaks.

Cervecería Cuauhtémoc began exporting its products officially and systematically.

Titán S.A. was established as an independent company with an initial capital of 750,000 pesos and 180 employees and workers in the year of 1936. The company expanded its operations until it produced all kinds of cardboard packaging. Titán had originally been a department of the company Fábricas Monterrey that only produced corrugated cardboard boxes.

In that same year some big events happened, first, Malta S.A. was created to supply the brewery with malt, an essential raw material in beer production. And second, Valores Industriales S.A., the holding company for the Cuauhtémoc concerns, was founded.

Then the savings bank changed its name from Sociedad Cooperativa de Ahorros e Inversiones para los Empleados y Operarios de la Cervecería Cuauhtémoc, S.A., to Sociedad Cuauhtémoc y Famosa (SCyF).

Also during this decade, the Carta Blanca oval was first introduced as the brand's logo.

Almacenes y Silos was founded in response to the need for warehouses to store the Cuauhtémoc Brewery's products as Cervecería Cuauhtémoc celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1940

In 1943 Hojalata y Lámina (HYLSA) came into being, with 179 employees and workers, and 3 million pesos' capital. HYLSA was founded to produce sheet steel, an essential raw material for bottle caps, because during the Second World War it was impossible to import this product. It is said that at first the steel produced was of such poor quality that the brewery could not use it for bottle caps. Nevertheless, over time HYLSA became one of Mexico's most important companies, renowned for the quality of its products and its technological development.

As a motivation for the employees’ performance the Sociedad Cuauhtémoc y Famosa clinic was inaugurated in 1945 to provide free medical care for the company's employees and workers at a time when the Mexican Social Security Institute had still not come into existence.

An innovation happened in 1948, crushed ice was first used at points of sale in order to offer consumers cold beer, it was a huge success.

This year marked the introduction of "Transparámbar," the transparent amber glass bottle to protect the beer from the adverse effects of light.

It is well-known that a good acquisition can benefit a business a lot, so in 1954 Cervecería Cuauhtémoc acquired a plant in Tecate, Baja California Norte, which manufactured a regional brand called Tecate. The brewery took this brand and launched it nationwide as the first canned beer in Mexico.

By the year 1957 Grafo Regia, an internal department of Cervecería Cuauhtémoc, started operations as an independent label plant. Its activities later expanded to include all kinds of flexible packaging.

During this decade, the President of Mexico, Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, inaugurated the Cuauhtémoc neighborhood in Monterrey with 1,318 houses for the Group's employees and workers. This was another social benefit offered ahead of the times, before the creation of the Mexican federal housing development institute, Infonavit.

In the year 1960 there was an implementation in the product design: Cervecería Cuauhtémoc launched the one-liter bottle presentation known as "Caguama," offering the consumer economic advantages and convenience.

Another improvement in the design of the product was made in 1964, ring-pull cans were introduced, giving consumers yet another advantage by eliminating the need for can openers.

Also in 1967 as an improvement I the design Cervecería Cuauhtémoc introduced the screw-top bottle. The thread on the bottleneck made it possible for the consumer to open the bottle manually, without a bottle opener.

A bottle with a specially designed screw-top opener on the bottom was launched to make it even easier to open bottles in 1969.

That same year, Cervecería Cuauhtémoc built a plant in Toluca, Mexico, which was the most modern and advanced beer plant in Latin America at the time and is still highly competitive.

In 1971 Logistics department decided to introduce Lightweight plastic boxes to transport bottles more safely.

In the year of 1973 Mexican baseball authorities conceded the lifetime venue of the Hall of Fame to the brewery to honor those men who dedicated their lives to "the king of sports." The Hall of Fame is located in the gardens of the Monterrey brewery. Additional halls dedicated to other sports have since been included. This worked as a way to attract more clients to the factory and therefore

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