Mexican Coca-Cola bottler Arca Continental will invest a record 18 billion pesos (US $895 million) to expand its business in 2025. Arca made the announcement during its annual shareholders’ meeting, where it presented its 2024 consolidated financial results.
Approximately 50% of the funds will go towards Arca’s operations in Mexico, with the other 50% supporting business expansion in the United States and South America, the company said on Tuesday.
“This amount will be primarily allocated to increasing production and distribution capacity, accelerating the use of digital tools, launching new beverage categories, as well as strengthening [Arca’s] sustainable business model and creating shared value in the communities it serves,” Arca said in a statement.
Arca Continental has operated in Mexico for 99 years and is the second-largest Coca-Cola bottler in the Americas and one of the largest in the world.
Highlights from the meeting included an 11.8% increase in net income, totaling almost 20 billion pesos ($992 million) and a net sales growth of 10.9%, totaling 237 billion pesos ($11.8 billion).
“We will continue with the digital transformation of the business and maintain the impeccable execution that distinguishes us, with the firm desire to make a positive difference in every territory we serve,” the bottler’s CEO Arturo Gutiérrez stated at the event.
Arca has been recognized for its sustainable practices, having been included in both the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and the S&P Global’s Sustainability Yearbook.
“Guided by our strategy of profitable and sustainable growth, we continue to consistently create shared value in the markets where we operate,” Chairman of Arca’s Board of Directors Jorge Santos Reyna said at the shareholders’ meeting.
Impact of US aluminum tariffs on bottler
U.S. President Donald Trump introduced sweeping 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum products imported into the U.S. on March 12.
In February, Arca said that the looming tariffs would have a marginal impact on the total costs of its products sold in the U.S.
Arca’s Director of Administration and Finance Emilio Marcos Charur said that aluminum represents 10% of the total cost of products sold in the U.S., therefore, any price increase resulting from the tariffs would have a cost impact of less than 1%.
With reports from La Economista and CNN
