Empresas Polar is a

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

corporation A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...

that started as a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

, founded in 1941 by

Lorenzo Alejandro Mendoza Fleury Lorenzo may refer to: People * Lorenzo (name) Places Peru * San Lorenzo Island (Peru), sometimes referred to as the island of Lorenzo United States * Lorenzo, Illinois * Lorenzo, Texas * San Lorenzo, California, formerly Lorenzo * Lorenzo State ...

, Juan Simon Mendoza, Rafael Lujan and Karl Eggers in

Antímano Antímano is a district of Caracas, Venezuela. It is part of Libertador municipality. According to a 2007 estimate of the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, it had a population of 150,971 people in 2007. The name Antímano derives ...

"La Planta de Antimano",

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

. It is the largest and best known

in Venezuela, but has since long diversified to an array of industries, mostly related to

food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing takes many forms, from grinding grain into raw flour, home cooking, and complex industrial methods used in the mak ...

and packaging, also covering markets abroad.

Products

Original line

Production of ''Cerveza Polar'', a 5%

abv Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest of the solution, ...

lager Lager (; ) is a Type of beer, style of beer brewed and Brewing#Conditioning, conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be Pale lager, pale, Amber lager, amber, or Dark lager, dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially availab ...

began during the 1940s, and eventually, the company grew into the largest beer producing company in Venezuela, producing also Solera, Solera Light, Polar Light, Polar Ice, Polar Zero and Polar Zilch. The name comes from the

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can Hybrid (biology), interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear ...

, whose image is imprinted on the beer bottles. Maltin Polar “energia natural y full sabor”, is another of their most famous products, a

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, similar to a nonalcoholic ale style beer, suited for all ages.

Beers

The company produces five different brands of lager with slight variations in abv strength and taste, such as "Solera" at 6% abv, called Verde (green) because of its bottle color, "Polar Pilsen" at 5% abv, called Negra (black) or Negrita (Blackie), "Solera Light" at 4.3% abv, called Azul (Azulita), "Polar Ice" at 4.5% abv, "Polar Light" at 4% abv. There is also a nonalcoholic beer called "Polar Zilch". Polar's signature Pilsen product started distribution in the United States in 1985 under the leadership of

Carlos Eduardo Stolk Carlos Eduardo Stolk Mendoza (4 April 1912 – 9 November 1995) was a lawyer, diplomat and business magnate who is well-known for his role as a delegate during World War II, as a founding representative of the United Nations and as chairman to ...

, President and Chairman of the Board of Empresas Polar for over 30 years. Their non-alcoholic product aimed at the youth market, Maltin Polar, is basically a type of soft drink called

which is similar to ale beers with hops but with some caramel flavouring. Its taste is comparable to that of a dark, very sweet beer.

Economic crisis

During the economic crisis in Venezuela in 2016 production of beer was suspended due to the firm's inability to access a supply of barley.

Other products

The company has diversified its range of products, mainly by acquiring other companies and now also produces snacks, maize flour (which is the base for the main Venezuelan meals), ice-creams (Helados Efe), soft drinks and malt beverages (Cervecería Polar, Refrescos Golden and bottles

Pepsi-Cola Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...

and

Diet Pepsi Diet Pepsi, also called Pepsi Light in some countries, is a diet carbonated cola soft drink produced by PepsiCo, introduced in 1964 as a variant of Pepsi with no sugar. First test marketed in 1963 under the name Patio Diet Cola, it was re-bra ...

for the Venezuelan and North Andean market). Polar also bought the food manufacturer Mavesa, which produces

mayonnaise Mayonnaise (), colloquially referred to as "mayo" (), is a thick, creamy sauce with a rich and tangy taste that is commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, Salad#Bound salads, bound salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various o ...

ketchup Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and sour flavor. "Ketchup" now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes for different varieties contained mushrooms, oysters, mussels, egg whites, grapes, or walnuts, amon ...

margarine Margarine (, also , ) is a Spread (food), spread used for flavoring, baking, and cooking. It is most often used as a substitute for butter. Although originally made from animal fats, most margarine consumed today is made from vegetable oil. The ...

and a blue biodegradable

soap Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...

(Las Llaves). The company also set a joint venture with the French cognac manufacturer Martell in the state of Lara to produce wines locally. The company's name is Bodegas Pomar. Polar is currently trying to expand their frontiers, by exporting some of their products to other countries, currently some Polar products can be purchased in the United States of America. Maltin Polar, Polar Beer and Harina PAN. Recently the "Maltin Polar" and "Polar ICE" have been introduced into the Puerto Rican market.

Enterprises

* Cervecería Polar, C.A. * Alimentos Polar, C.A. * Pepsi Cola Venezuela, C.A.

References

External links

RateBeerEmpresas Polar
{{Authority control Beer in Venezuela Food and drink companies established in 1941 Food and drink companies of Venezuela manufacturing companies based in Caracas Conglomerate companies of Venezuela Conglomerate companies established in 1941 Venezuelan companies established in 1941 Venezuelan brands 1941 establishments in Venezuela PepsiCo bottlers Multinational companies headquartered in Venezuela Privately held companies of Venezuela