As part of an expansion process that increased its malt production by 350% since 2014, Maltería Oriental inaugurated two new malting towers.
Maltería Oriental has more than 85 years of experience in the production and marketing of malt or malted barley, a key input for the brewing industry, being among the ten main export items in Uruguay.
Since December 2011, it has been part of the Petrópolis Group, one of the most important beer companies in Brazil, this being its main export destination.. In addition, it has commercial relationships with clients and suppliers of malt and barley in the region and the world.
“Uruguay is a great producer of excellent quality barley, we prefer Uruguay because of the Uruguayan people, because of the land, which is very good for producing, and it is also a country that is the brother of Brazil,” said Walter Faria, owner from Grupo Petrópolis, who came to the country especially for the occasion. The inauguration was attended by the President of the Republic, Luis Lacalle Pou, and national authorities.
The Petrópolis Group is the second most valuable beer company in Brazil. Among the brands of alcoholic beverages that are part of the Faria conglomerate are: Itaipava, Crystal, Lokal Bier, as the most popular beers. And Black Princess, Petra and Weltenburger Kloster, on the premium drinks menu.
The development of the Maltería Oriental plant consisted of two stages. The first dates from 2014 and 2016, when the company went from its original production capacity of 60,000 tons of malt per year to 140,000 tons. In the second stage, which began in 2019, another 80,000 tons were added, finally having a capacity of 220,000 tons. For the entire expansion, the company invested a total of US$ 125 million.
In parallel, this expansion made it necessary to increase the planting hectares throughout the country, going from 30,000 to 100,000, which caused a high logistical movement due to the increase in silo plants, seedbeds and the use of more trucks of transportation, among other services. In this way, indirect jobs and services provided by Distributors and barley producers also grew significantly.
In addition, the plant incorporated state-of-the-art technology to care for the environment. “We added an electrostatic filter, which filters the air that comes out of the boilers and prevents us from emitting any type of polluting particle into the atmosphere, a reverse osmosis system for the reuse of water and a washer thread at the beginning of the soaking process, which allows a substantial saving of water”, explained Martin Uhlig, industrial director of Maltería Oriental. For his part, Faría announced that the Petrópolis Group will make new investments in Uruguay.
Support to the community
Within its corporate social responsibility policies, Maltería Oriental supports the Abayubá neighborhood and the José Roger Balet school No. 224. “In 1973 we donated the property where the school is installed. Currently, after the signing of an agreement with ANEP, the construction of the new school in a nearby property is in the process of beginning, with significant support from funds from the malting company”, indicated Roberto Urroz, financial director of Maltería Oriental. he
