Speaker 1: From the library of the New York Stock Exchange at the corner of Wall and Broad Streets in New York City, you're Inside the ICE House, our podcast from Intercontinental Exchange on markets, leadership, and vision and global business, the dream drivers that have made the NYSE an indispensable institution of global growth for over 225 years. Each week, we feature stories of those who hatch plans, create jobs, and harness the engine of capitalism right here, right now at the NYSE and at ICE's exchanges and clearing houses around the world. Now, welcome Inside the ICE House. Here's your host, Josh King of Intercontinental Exchange.
Josh King: Operating the largest capital markets in the world is serious business with each day having global economic ramifications. I was reminded of this just this morning as we welcomed the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, the third most powerful position in the American government for a classic four-part visit to the New York Stock Exchange.
In part one, Senator McCarthy meets with our own exchange officials, President Lynn Martin, Vice Chairman and President of the NYSE Institute, John Tuttle, also our Chief Marketing Officer, Michael Blaugrund.
Then there was part two. He had a round table with a group of about 15 CEOs of our NYSE listed companies. Part three, he moves from that breakfast meeting to our iconic boardroom addressing business leaders about the state of the economy and where he stands as the leader of the House of Representatives vis-a-vis the White House. Then in part four, he sat for a long interview with Sarah Eisen and Carl Quintanilla of CNBC from post nine of our trading floor.
To be fully transparent about all this, we've offered the exact same invitation to President Biden and Vice President Harris. They know our door is open at any time. It just shows once again how much our institution here at the corner of Wall and Broad Streets is as much an exchange of ideas as it's an exchange of stocks.
Now, the whole event with Speaker McCarthy was covered by our own NYSE TV cameras. So if you want to hear his words, as well as the following fireside chat with John Tuttle, and then a breakdown of the remarks with Trinity Chavez and me, you can head over to our YouTube channel and take that all in.
This building from its Corinthian-columned facade to its distinctive trading floor adds a level of gravity to each of the thousands of events that the exchange hosts each year. Now, that isn't to suggest we don't allow for a good time here, particularly twice a day when we celebrate the opening and closing of the markets with a bell ceremony.
Our guest today, Ambev CEO, Jean Jereissati, who everyone refers to down in Sao Pao as JJ and I will from this point forward, leads a company that knows a thing or two about celebrating. Ambev is the largest brewer in Latin America in terms of sales volumes, and one of the largest beer producers in the world for its public listing back in 1997 when it was known as Brahma, the name of the famous Brazilian beer founded in 1888. The company showed up with a race car and racing team that they were sponsoring.
Then in 2000, to celebrate the formation of Ambev following the merger of Brahma and Antarctica, company executives and their spokeswoman, Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen, cracked some cold ones opening the trading floor. Now, over 25 years later, as Jean described Ambev in a recent earnings call, "We are a company that dreams big to create a future with more cheers." Our conversation with the Ambev CEO, Jean Jereissati on Ambev's future, ESG in Brazil, and his career, it's all coming up right after this.
Speaker 3: When you hear the word sustainability, you think, "Too big." When you feel you have to do something, you think, "Too complicated." Hold on. Think about your decisions. Get closer. Those that are big or small for you, your decisions and other people's decisions, those that have to be made every day. Step back a little. Think of the decisions that add up to many more. There are millions of decisions that change everything little by little for the better. Now, think about who can help you make better decisions, and there we are, so that what you save, the planet saves too to keep moving forward without leaving anyone behind.
Now, when you hear the word sustainability, you think, "Opportunities." At BBVA, we're putting new solutions at your fingertips in order to build a greener and more inclusive future. BBVA, creating opportunities.
Josh King: Our guests today, Jean Jereissati, is the CEO of Ambev. That's NYSE ticker symbol ABEV. Joined Ambev in 1998 and has held senior management positions across the company. Welcome, JJ, Inside the ICE House and to the New York Stock Exchange.
Jean Jereissati: Thank you very much. What a pleasure to be here. This is an iconic building. First time that I'm here, but we have a longstanding relationship, right? Since 1997, we are together here with you. So it's amazing to be here. Thank you very much for having me.
Josh King: What brings you to New York this week?
Jean Jereissati: My company overall, we are putting together a strategy session, thinking about the long term, the future.
Josh King: What's the rhythm on any given year of your visits toward North America? What brings you up here? Where do you go, the things that you're doing?
Jean Jereissati: So our footprint is very Latin America-centered. So I travel a lot around South America and the Caribbean and I have to go to Canada. I come to New York more to on these investors' meetings and to learn a little bit more. So once, twice a year I'm around.
Josh King: What are the leading brands you have in the Caribbean?
Jean Jereissati: In the Caribbean, we have a brand called Presidente. That is amazing. We sell here in US. It's just an amazing brand.
Josh King: Talk to me about your love of beer. What makes a good beer? What makes a great beer? What distinguishes one form of beer from another from an expert's viewpoint?
Jean Jereissati: So we can talk about in two ways on that. So I think quality of the beer is really related about the ingredients, the recipe, and the care of the process that you put around it. So you can like a beer that is a little bit more bitter, you like one that is more refreshing. So there are many types of tastes, but we are very proud to use always old recipes. So Brahma, more than 100 years old. We have innovation, the new ones, but we really take care of this ingredients and all the process around. I think the process is one of the most important things to keep the beer refreshing, keep it good when it goes out of the plant and hits the consumer in their house or in the pub. So all this process, it's very important.
Josh King: When JJ has had a particularly hard week and you need to unwind on a Friday evening, what's your first choice? What most do you want to have and what's the temperature you serve it at?
Jean Jereissati: So we have one beer, I was mentioning that, that we just have it in Brazil that is called Chopp da Brahma. It is a Brahma brand, but it is an extension that we just serve in draft. It is non-pasteurized, so you have to consume it in 10 days after you produced. So it's just like a creamy, freshy perfect beer. I travel a lot around. It's hard to find a beer like that. So we are very proud of it. So this is for sure my top one pick.
Josh King: Can't get it in the United States?
Jean Jereissati: We can't get it here because you have to produce and deliver and drink in 10 days. So it's like a sashimi. So it's not something that you can put in a plane. So it's really something that you have to consume very close to the local production.
Josh King: I have to ask the CEO, do you have a keg in your house and a draft, the ability to serve it to yourself?
Jean Jereissati: I do have it, yes. I do.
Josh King: So while Ambev celebrated its 25th anniversary of its listing last year, you are also marking your own quarter century with the company. What was the initial job that brought you to the business?
Jean Jereissati: Yeah. So it was my first job. So I'm Brazilian, born and raised. I went to do business administration in college. Then I had a dream of being an entrepreneur, but I had no cash. Then I was looking for companies that I could partner and then learn a little bit, make some money, and then have my own business. Then Brahma at that time, Ambev, it's really a very important recognized company in Brazil that makes the talents grow with them, and I joined. So at that moment, it was something that I thought it would be temporary for a while, learn a little bit, and then find my way.
In the end, the company was growing so much and giving so much opportunities for young talents. So that feeling that I needed to be a risk taker, to make my moves, have my budget, and bat on things that I could be, the company fulfilled me on that direction. Then we are here 25 years after that talking and I'm passionate about the companies too.
Josh King: I read that you made a mark in the company and also made a name for yourself overseeing the integrations of its brands into a unified marketing strategy. How did your career evolve over those first few years that saw the formation of Ambev?
Jean Jereissati: Yeah. So I participate on many things on the company and that was the listing here. I was not there, but it was an important moment. The combination with Antarctica and creating the Ambev was a very important moment in the company and how we put everything together and how the company ... It was a new company. It became a new culture that came together, Brahma and Antarctica. Then we integrated and took care of this new view of many brands in the company, of new portfolio. We had two RTMs that we have to put it together in a company, two cultures, and it was amazing to live these days.
It was very prosperous moments for our company, and that was the inception that we begin to think. So we are getting so successful down here in Brazil. So it's really time to think about going global and being successful out of Brazil. So that was amazing moment back days in the 2000, 2010. It was amazing.
Josh King: I mean, talking about your expansion in 2013, you were overseeing your Latin American business for Ambev, including 100 million dollar investment in Guatemala. Using that partnership with CABCORP, for example, or in general, how generally does Ambev use investment in local regions and acquisitions of regional names to help connect with the regions that you're going to operate in, like the challenge, particularly in Guatemala?
Jean Jereissati: So CABCORP is a great partner that we have. So they're bottling. They are the bottles of PepsiCo in Guatemala and then it was ... So we look into them and they are a great family that we really decided to partner and go into Guatemala. So we did it together. We put a brewery over there. We started from scratch, and it's amazing business that we have. What we like the most? It is that. So we have this whole world and we have this expansion strategy so we go here and there for one country and the other, but it's amazing to have great partners like we had, like we still have today with them at CABCORP over there.
Josh King: I mean, speaking of acquisitions, JJ, you led the integration of the Dominican Republic Brewery, Cerveceria Nacional Dominicana. Have you developed your own playbook for bringing a new producer and its employee base into the Ambev family?
Jean Jereissati: Yes. So that is an art to really integrate many companies into one. So we see outside of our business that there is another companies that they do M&As, but they keep everything separate and they are just holding. We are not like that. So we had this view that we could really be a big company that we had to learn how to, when you do alliances acquisition, that we had to work as one. So we have very strong culture and that's the base of everything. So even though when we do a greenfield expansion that we start up in a new country or you acquire a big company, in the end, you have to get everybody around a culture align about what are the things that we believe, what are the things that are important for that new company, write everything down and then live to it. So the culture is what make us really united as a one company.
Josh King: What's your current outlook for let's say one country like Dominican Republic in particular, but LatAm in general, your consumption going in the direction you wanted to diversifying into other products?
Jean Jereissati: We had many things in the previous two or three years. So we have a pandemic and we have currencies going ups and downs and we had supply chain issues across the board, but even though with all of that, we are in the all-time high volumes of our company Ambev with Dominican Republica and with Brazil, Canada, all in. When we look at the numbers last years, we're at our all-time high record. It was not like a one year, it was like we've been building this for four or five years that our volumes have momentum year over year.
So somehow the beer business is there even though in Latin America when we talk about the new generation, the new consumers. So beer, it's hot right now. So we are in this moment of there are craft breweries arriving, so there are new recipes coming. So the new generation, it's really into beer. So we have a very healthy category. Even though with that, our company got so huge that we look ourselves more than a beverage company. We are more and more looking ourselves as a platform.
So beer, we are happy with that. We are growing. It's trading up, but now, we were recognized down in Brazil, for example, just to give you an information, as the best bottle of Pepsi in the whole Latin America. So it was really, we open up our ecosystem, we partnered for a long time, but since with all these investments in technologies, we can go beyond beer. Then it was amazing to see Pepsi really flourishing in Brazil. We are going beyond beer with cocktails in cans. So somehow, our business is healthy, but we are really going beyond it.
Josh King: Let's travel around the world for a second, JJ, because in 2015, you headed to China to oversee InBev's APAC operations. Those of us who enjoy an evening of Chinese food here in New York will probably accompany our meals with a serving of Harbin or Tsingtao, and the region is in fact the world's largest beer market. What did the experience teach you about breaking into new markets and creating demand for your brand portfolio that you now use in the regions that Ambev covers?
Jean Jereissati: Yeah. So that was a amazing time of my life. That was when I went to China to lead our company over there, not just China, but APAC, China, Korea and Japan. It was my MBA that I could not do because I was working so much and moving that I could not make it, but looking into my experience in China to go ... Our company is a huge company over there. We have 40 breweries expanding. So it was amazing, a very amazing business. For me, particularly, to learn about new culture, how to interact the desires of the Chinese community in terms of beer, the habits, it was something that I will remember forever.
So what I really learned there and I take to my life and to my business is that they are very accelerated on technology side of the business. So the platforms they created over there, the possibilities that we have to really transform the business into technology, talking directly with consumers through the digital platforms, it is really something that is eye-opening.
Another thing, it is how they are sophisticated. So we don't know that for much. People don't know that for much, but the Chinese consumer is very demanding in terms of quality, and they are evolving in terms of looking into new things and sophistication and flavors, and we were there to deliver that. So our recipes, our products, they really got into the country and the Chinese really liked it. So we grew a lot from 2015 into and then we have the pandemic over there, but it was a country that we grew a lot over there.
Josh King: So if you had your MBA program during your time in the APAC region, you bring a lot of learning and new experiences back. Three years ago, you're named CEO of Ambev and announced that the company would be focusing more maybe on the long term, less on immediate market gain, as well as becoming what you called an ambidextrous company. What did you mean by both of those statements?
Jean Jereissati: Yeah. So we are here celebrating 25 years that Ambev was listed in NYSE, right? We are very proud about what we accomplished. So I was looking into the numbers. Our stock grew 1300% since we listed here. So 1300% is a lot. So it was really that the total shareholder return was 11% CAGR in this 25 years. So it was really solid, right? So when we thought ... We stopped and we were thinking about, "So what would be the next 25 years? So we were such a successful company. So the next 25 years, could we do it again?" So that was the question that we were doing.
We learned a lot with our team that the first 20 years were really about this ability to expand globally, about how I have efficiencies more than other places in a very sophisticated way. We have the Six Sigma projects that we have really, the breweries that they have really to measure everything that we do. So we are so good on that. So these things made the successful history of Ambev, the global expansion, the ability to grow in organic, and the possibilities that we have with being very efficient.
Looking at the next 20 years, I think the growth matrix that we have, it's a little bit different. So of course, efficiencies, they are relevant, but they are more marginal. We just have to keep it up. We are there and the whole world right now. So for us, to continue to have this successful story in the next 25 years is really about reconnecting with our ecosystem. We have 200 million consumers just in Brazil, for example, understand their occasion, their pains. So it's this reconnection with our ecosystem.
So our ability to innovate, and I'm talking about innovation not just in beer but in liquids and going beyond beer. So it's a key priority for us. We have this still in Latin America. There's a window of opportunity to transform the company into technology. I think this window is already closed in China and US. So there are mega platforms of technology here.
So in Latin America, maybe we could be the force of transformation of technology. So we are really getting this window to transform the company. So that's a little bit what we call the ambidextrous company. That's a little bit what we say, "Yes, we are a beverage company, but this is not just what represent us." So we are moving into a platform that have inspiring brands and connect the ecosystem. We really think we can do this transformation in this loop moving forward.
Josh King: Part of the transformation, JJ, that you've enacted since you've become CEO is a focus really at the company on listening. For our listeners, what is NPS and how does it measure how well you think you're doing, listening to both customers and also your partners?
Jean Jereissati: Yeah, for sure. So with that in mind that the growth matrix is really about reconnecting with the ecosystem, innovating, and transform to technology, our culture had to evolve and our culture is very particular and we are so proud about this ability that we Brazilians out there have to dream to conquer the world, and all the employees has to treat the company as their own company, so this ownership. So this thing has never changed, but we should listen more, we should collaborate more, and we should really think long term, three traits that would help us really to transform the company and moving forward.
So we begin to talk more about that to evolve as a culture and then listen is really what you have to do if you have to innovate and solve customers and consumer pain points, right? So we begin to do that on a quantitative basis and on a qualitative basis. So NPS is an example of the net promoter score, of the evaluation that now we do across the company. Our customers, they say, "Look, you are right. I like you. So you're not doing right." Our suppliers choose. So we measure the satisfaction with the whole ecosystem now every month. So this is the type of way to say, "Look, I want to listen to you. If there's something wrong, I want to act, but more than that, tell me more. What could I do better in our relationship?" So really, this connection with our ecosystem is a part very relevant of the growth matrix that we foresee in the future.
Josh King: You were named CEO just as the pandemic was taking hold across the globe. How did it impact not just your business but your employees? I mean, speaking for myself for one, I found myself at home and starting to drink more beer.
Jean Jereissati: So that was a crucial moment. So the pandemic, when I remember was something that there were no playbooks. So now is a little bit far away, but at that moment, nobody knew what to do. In reality, in Latin America, 60% of the consumption of beer is in bars. So this occasion of drinking at home is not that developed yet. So from one day to the other, our customers, they were shut it down and we didn't know what was going to happen. All the employees, everybody's so afraid about what could happen. I remember that we did two things in that moment that they were very relevant. So it was, first of all, take care of the physical conditions of our employees, so make them feel safe during the work with all the things that we had to change and the precedents and the English work or letters. So all the safety stuff that we did for brewery offices and everything.
Then after that, we went taking care not of the physical safety but the mental safety too. So we vetted a lot on helping our people to go through the pandemic in a state of possible mental health. So we invested a lot on that. So with these two things out of sight, our company became very creative during this process. So thinking about we were a large company in Brazil, how could we help our customers, the ecosystem, the government. I think that moment when everybody felt safe in an environment that ... We had an enemy, right? It was the pandemic. It was an enemy. Our company really flourished in terms of creativity, in terms of another ways of doing business and supporting our consumers and customers.
Some consumers begin to drink a little bit more at home, but we were able really to maintain the bars in a healthy way. We helped them with financial support. We help their own trade to transform and deliver and have takeaways. So somehow I remember that as a moment that everybody fought for the ecosystem to be together on that, and our company somehow left out of it in a more strong position.
Josh King: Those years that we're talking about, JJ, 2020, 2021, also the only times I think in any recent history that Rio's Carnival celebration was canceled. It was restarted a little bit in 2022 and it came back in full form this year. I want to take just a listen of what the sights and sounds were like at this year's carnival.
Speaker 5: Finally, Brazil's famous carnival is back. Celebrated across the country with the biggest crowds drawn in Rio Janeiro, the six-day long annual festival kicked off on Friday, local time. Known to generate millions for the local economy, the Rio Tourism Company expects the event will bring 971 million US dollars in revenue this year. Rio itself is expected to host over 600 official street parties and the Brazilian government anticipates some 46 million people will take part in nationwide festivities.
Josh King: A billion in revenue, 46 million people taking part in activities. Can you talk about how your help a street vendor movement and how you leveraged all those coolers that weren't being used to keep the drinks cold during the years that the carnival wasn't happening?
Jean Jereissati: Yeah. So the carnival is a moment that defines Brazil. It's a moment that everybody gets together, everybody can be themselves the way they want, and it is a moment that really defines Brazil, and it was very hard. So our Brahma brand has a longstanding relationship with carnival and with the music that sing to the carnival like samba and everything. For two years, we could not celebrate. Everybody had to take care. We used everything that we had to help somehow the population, the ecosystem, the street vendors to go into this period of time maybe in a little better way.
We used everything we had to go through the situation. So we gave the cooler we used for the government to put vaccines and go to, not the urban centers of Brazil, that's not it, but you go to the middle of Amazon, you needed that. So we used everything to help on the pandemic, but to see this year the carnival coming back at full potential, it was feeling Brazil full potential again. Now, it's like a lot of people coming from abroad. Gisele Bündchen that you just mentioned, she was here when we listed, when we did the Ambev combination. She came again and then she went back to Brazil to celebrate the carnival over there. So it was amazing to see everybody celebrating with the friends and toasting, toasting together. So it was an amazing carnival we had over there.
Josh King: In prior years, Ambev has partnered with Volkswagen to replace 1600 of its delivery trucks with electric vehicles. I think it was probably the largest deal of its kind when it was announced back in five years ago. How's progress gone in terms of replacing the carbon footprint made by your fleet?
Jean Jereissati: So that's amazing because this type of deal, it just happen if you have a first mover, and we see ourselves on this matter. So for a while, for 15 years we are really leading efforts on sustainability in Brazil. With Ambev, sustainability is mandatory. So it's really something that all the companies should be really thinking about how to do it. Five years ago, we said "Look, we want to begin to change our fleet," and no supplier was there willing to really make the bet. If they didn't have one customer that said, "Look, I will sign even if you don't have it," I will sign the trucks with you with Volkswagen. I will guarantee, so begin to bring this technology to Brazil that you have a customer down here. I think that was really how we somehow anticipate the opportunity of Brazil to have this type of fleet one years, two years.
At some point, time would arrive, but we believe that we together with Volkswagen two or three years ahead of normal time partner to really create the capability for Brazil. So carbon is really a so important footprint, a so important matter for us in the ESG theme. We've been working on that for 15 years of reducing emissions in the coolers that we are exchanging, the coolers for new technology in the fleet. We now have a big facility in Brazil that is really carbon neutral right now.
So I believe that in three or five years we can be carbon neutral in the scope one, and that is not enough because we have all this thing around the scope two and scope three that will take a little bit more time for us to influence, but this is a point of no return. So we are really betting on decarbonize our footprint and we are really happy with the progress.
Josh King: New York City is pretty advanced in the way that it recycles its products, whether it's plastic, glass, metal, et cetera, paper. We're not always exactly sure where all of the recycling goes, but they pick everything up. Sticking with your ESG efforts in Brazil, last year you announced plans to open a glass production facility in Paraná that would use recycled materials and 100% renewable electricity. Can you talk about that project and how you're creating other carbon neutral and sustainable manufacturing across the company to meet your circular packaging goals?
Jean Jereissati: So we still have in Brazil, but we don't have it anymore here in US, this possibility of have return ability on bottles with consumers that we really protect down there. So 40% of my volumes, they go on long necks or big bottles, but they really return. It is not something that you throw away. So I'm really prepared to get it back, wash it, fulfill it again, and send it again. So this is so important for us. So we cannot lose that. In reality, we have to really expand that much and more for the consumers. This facility is really something that will bring capacity for the Brazilian footprint to have more bottles to do more things like that and to grow this sustainable process that we have with glass.
So now, one of the barriers that we have to increase the use and reuse of bottle is that consumers feel that sometimes bottles are too heavy to carry. Sometimes they carry cans. So we have all these initiatives now with the Zé delivery where you have more discounts if you ask from the digital platforms and if you give the bottles back. So if we cannot get right on the packaging side, we will not be able to have zero emissions on the scope three.
Josh King: As we head to the break, JJ, as CEO, you have also invested both your time and Ambev's efforts on really a culture evolution to meet the needs of both the modern employee and also your investors. How are you tackling issues around diversity, equality, and inclusion for your teams?
Jean Jereissati: Inclusivity is a value that we have in our company. It's really something that is a must-have. It's written on the competencies of 100% of our employees, so how inclusive you are. So this is something that is so relevant for us and it's not just because we believe there is a strategic sense on this matter. So if you want to be a company that has to understand consumers and customers, have different perspectives and insights and innovate, I really have to have a place with psychological safety. I really have a place where everybody can talk and have ideas and mention them to everybody and don't feel afraid.
So yes, our culture, it's the most important thing in our company, is the only thing that we will stay forever. The facilities we would shut down, the assets go ups and downs, but the culture of our company is what unifies, and this thing that we have in our company, the ability to dream. The company of owners that is always there is always there, but we are evolving on a company that has to be inclusive, has to listen, has to collaborate, and has to think long term. So I want to have the next 25 years as successful as we had the previous 25 years with you.
Josh King: The next 25 years as successful as the past 25 years, the ability to dream a company of owners as it evolves. After the break, Jean Jereissati, JJ, CEO of Ambev and I are going to talk about Ambev's big investments in technology and its continued focus on ESG. That's all coming up right after this.
Speaker 6: Shopify Editions is back with over 100 product updates and enhancements all in one place. Explore our latest solutions for every aspect of commerce from starting and scaling a business-
Speaker 7: So you can sell everywhere easier.
Speaker 6: ... to flexible components for enterprise needs-
Speaker 7: Businesses can choose which technologies they need to create the customer experience they want.
Speaker 6: ... and developer tooling to customize any commerce experience.
Speaker 8: We know how important it is to offer the right mix of power, flexibility, and customization across our surfaces.
Speaker 6: No matter what you're building, you can build for the long term with Shopify. Visit shopify.com/editions.
Josh King: Welcome back. Before the break, I was talking to Jean Jereissati, CEO of Ambev, about his career and the company's ESG work. One of the major technology plays that Ambev has made is the investment in, I think you may have mentioned it earlier, Zé delivery. What is Zé and how does it fit into your vision for this ambidextrous Ambev that we were talking about earlier?
Jean Jereissati: Yeah. So Zé delivery is a delivery platform, as it says, right? So Zé is a common name that we have in Brazil, but it's a delivery platform that we started back then in 2015 as a little venture division inside the company that we were at that moment trying to listen to consumers and customer pain points and they were saying, "Beer is too heavy to carry." So that was the pain. Now, it's easy because we have Ubers, we have everything, but in 2015, at that moment, you make a bet on a platform of delivery of beer, it was really ahead of the time, and because we started there, we really were able to become this great division that we have in the company is that we have five million consumers that are connected with this platform and the majority order beer from it.
So Zé delivery is a loved brand now. We have 4,000 partners that do the logistics for us across Brazil, and it's amazing how sizeable it is. 75% of all the beer, there is transaction agent in e-commerce is from this platform. So it's really something that is relevant, consumers love, and we were prepared because we were ahead of the time investing on that.
Josh King: I mean, you have to anticipate when demand is really going to spike for a service like Zé delivery. The 2022 World Cup served really as a stress test for the platform with the app receiving more than 55,000 requests per hour during Brazil's debut in gutter. How did the system handle the uptick in demand and did orders keep up throughout the entire competition even after your unfortunate early exit in the tournament?
Jean Jereissati: That's a good question. So we planned to understand what would be the record volumes of Zé delivery for one year. We've been doing the math on the band that we should have in the app, the cloud prepared to receive the orders, the amount of coolers we should have to have code beer, the amount of motorcycles to deliver. So that was our work plan for us to go through the World Cup with.
So in the past, we were thinking things like that just on the production side. So we were now thinking, "So how the app will survive this type of demand?" It was amazing because the app, the Zé delivery really delivered it with a great service because we were prepared. The platforms, the cloud worked very well. It was a big test for us and we felt that we went out of this World Cup even though Brazil was not the winner, but Argentina was the winner. Argentina is in our footprint. So we talked a lot about Brazil, but we did an amazing campaign in Argentina with our brand Quilmes, about coincidences. So they foresee in this campaign Argentina winning this World Cup. It was amazing.
Josh King: I mean, the cup, of course, won by Lionel Messi in Argentina. I don't know if Sergio Agüero has app bar, but the team enjoyed the welcoming party that you threw for them. What's your outlook for Argentina as a market beyond a World Cup year?
Jean Jereissati: Yeah, so it was amazing. The party and how the country was optimist after this victory, it was something that was proud to see. I was really proud of my team over there and what they accomplished in the beer business in this World Cup. To see Lionel Messi really taking home, it was really amazing. So somehow I felt that after that, in terms of business, my brands went out of this World Cup stronger.
So Quilmes was the brand that really embraced the Argentina style and the Argentina chance to gain the World Cup. Budweiser took Messi to do a great party over there. So I think somehow my brands are more connected with overall consumers, not just in Argentina but in Brazil too. Zé delivery did a strike during this World Cup. So a lot of consumers that didn't know the platform begin to use during the World Cup and they understand that great proposition. So I think that overall my brands, the digital ones and the beers, they went out stronger on this.
Josh King: Of course, Zé delivery is your direct consumer model. Ambev also has made a really significant investment in a platform to support your B2B business. What is BEES and how does it make sure that the taps and the pubs and bars are never going to run dry?
Jean Jereissati: So BEES is a global platform that ABI leads, and we are responsible for it down in Latin America. The insight of this platform, it is that our customers, they need time and productivity is something so important for them. When you have a small bar or a small off straight supermarket, so you cannot just allocate your time receiving one million sales representatives that comes to offer you a product. So this consumes a lot of your resources and resources were so need right now that somehow we figure out, find out a way that BEES could be the platform that would give this time back to our customers and put everything that the customer did there, not just my products.
So this platform is more open, more collaborative. In the past, this type of platform would just have beers. Now they have soft drinks, now they have food, now they have everything that my normal customers they need. It is amazing how my customers are feeding back me, "Finally, I have something where I can get all my orders from there. Now I don't have to go to my office, to my store earlier to wait for the sales representative to make the orders. Now after the day, in the midnight, I saw everything that was sold. I go in the internet and I do ..." So that was the simple insight. Everybody has this type of insights, but the ability to put it together, to have the alliances, to bring PepsiCo into it, to bring the food company into it and really offer all of this to our customers, I think this was something amazing to see it happen. We have one million customers now really interacting every week on the platform.
Josh King: One of the trends that has swept the United States over the past couple years has been the rise, we were talking about some of non-beer products, the rise of bottled and canned hard seltzers, also these mixed drinks in cans that you mentioned earlier, JJ. Is there similar growth in the non-beer sector for Ambev, and can you talk about the outlook for your Caipi Beats product line?
Jean Jereissati: Yeah. So we are really open to innovation and to understand trends worldwide. It's amazing to see this trend here in US, the hard seltzers. This is something that we are open and we tried something a little bit different from hard seltzer specifically, but it was insights that we had looking into what's happening in US. So people need convenience. So cocktails, they are amazing, but it's not ... You have to have a bartender in a bar. Sometimes you don't have this luxury to have disability. Sometimes you are in the street and you just want to carry a good cocktail in your hand.
With that insight and tropicalizing it, so the number one drink in Brazil was a Caipirinha made with cachaça and with a lime. So we challenged us. So we should be able to do the best Caipirinha, put in a can, and really be in the same level of if a good bartender would do it. Then the truth is that our product became ... It's amazing and it was the heat of carnival. So it was the most selling product, new product in the quarter because of the carnival. So we are so excited about it.
Josh King: As we wrap up, JJ, I want to zoom just out to really the entire Brazilian market. After Canada and China, of course, the United States, Brazil is the third most represented country on the New York Stock Exchange. What makes the country, you think, so attractive to public companies and what's your outlook for the local economy?
Jean Jereissati: I'm really excited about the possibilities that we have in Brazil right now. We are in that moment, that it's the chance that we have to Brazil really to establish and really to grow. We are seeing all this confusion on the global economy overall. Brazil is a country that is friend of all the other countries, is close by to all the Americas. So we went through the problems of the pandemic faster than the rest of the world. So we are seeing inflation going down faster than the rest of the world. So somehow I think Brazil is in a tipping point of really establishing itself as the growth emerging market of the world.
Josh King: As we wrap up, looking to the future, JJ, what are you looking forward to most of all the areas that we've been talking about today?
Jean Jereissati: It was a pleasure to be here. It was a film in my mind to think about the first 25 years of our company and really to talk about all we have accomplished and talk about how prosperous this company and this combination with you were 1300% growth in this first 25 years. To be here, being able to dream on the next 25 with this, that represents a global footprint of our company and talking about our strategy that we think that we are not just a beverage company anymore. So our beverage beer is doing amazing, but somehow we have this unique opportunity of transform ourself into a platform and be so successful again in the next 25 years in the same way we were in the first 25. So this ability to come down here and dream again this whole dream, it was amazing to be with you. I'm really thinking about how can we deliver again what we were able to accomplished so far.
Josh King: Well, the next time you come back, bring a few cans of Caipi Beats and we'll have a nice Caipirinha to celebrate your next 25 years, but congratulations, JJ, on the first 25 and good luck on the next 25.
Jean Jereissati: Thank you very much. It was a pleasure. Thank you very much for having me here.
Josh King: That's our conversation for this week. Our guest was Jean Jereissati, the CEO of Ambev, NYSE ticker symbol ABEV. If you like what you heard, please rate us on iTunes so other folks know where to find us, and if you've got a comment or a question you'd like one of our experts to tackle on a future show, email us at [email protected] or tweet at us @ICEHousePodcast. Our show is produced by Pete Ash, with editing and technical assistance from Ian Wolff.
Speaker 1: Information contained in this podcast was obtained in part from publicly available sources and not independently verified. Neither ICE nor its affiliates make any representations or warranties expressed or implied as to the accuracy or completeness of the information and do not sponsor, approve or endorse any of the content herein. All of which is presented solely for informational and educational purposes. Nothing herein constitutes an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy any security or a recommendation of any security or trading practice. Some portions of the preceding conversation may have been edited for the purpose of length or clarity.
Josh King: I'm Josh King, your host, signing off from the library of the New York Stock Exchange. Thanks for listening. Talk to you next week.
