Backus and Johnston (, ''Backus y Johnston'') is the largest

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 bee ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, part of Bavaria Brewery, which itself is part of the international

AB InBev Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, commonly known as AB InBev, is an American-Belgian multinational drink and brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium. AB InBev has a global functional management office in New York City, and regional headquarters i ...

group. Its main brewery is located in the

Ate District Ate, also known as Ate-Vitarte, is a district of the Lima Province in Peru. Located in the eastern part of the province, it is one of the districts that comprise the city of Lima. History The ''Ate'' name is of Aymaran origin and denoted a lo ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of t ...

. Backus, as owner of almost all brands of beer available in Peru, enjoys a ''de facto'' monopoly over Peruvian beer consumption. Besides beer, Backus produces soft drinks and bottled water.

History

The Backus and Johnston brewery was founded in 1879 by the Americans Jacob Backus and John Howard Johnston in the

Rímac District Rímac is a district in the Lima Province, Peru. It lies directly to the north of downtown Lima, to which it is connected by six bridges over the Rímac River. The district also borders the Independencia, San Martín de Porres, and San Juan de ...

. In 1889, the two founders incorporated "The Backus and Johnston's Brewery Company Ltd" in London, and they transferred all their Peruvian brewery related assets to this new corporation in order to raise investment capital in the joint stock of London to continue their business growth. The founders continued as managing directors of the company until 1898 when Johnston left Peru; Backus died in 1899. The company operated as a British corporation until 1954, when the company management transferred the company assets and incorporation to Peru. At this time, The Backus and Johnston's Brewery Company Ltd was renamed as Cervecería Backus & Johnston S.A. In 1994 Backus and Johnston acquired a controlling interest in its rival on the Peruvian beer market, the National Beer Company (Compañía Nacional de Cerveza S.A.), formed in 1863; owner of the ''Pilsen Callao'' brand. In 1996 four breweries, including Backus and Johnston merged into one new company using the name Union of Peruvian breweries Backus and Johnston ( es, Unión de Cervecerías Peruanas Backus y Johnston S.A.A.). In 2000 the company further expanded when the Brewery Company of Southern Peru (Cervesur) joined the union, making it owner of the popular '' Cusqueña'' brand. From 2005 to 2016, Backus and Johnston was part of the

SABMiller SABMiller plc was a South African multinational brewing and beverage company headquartered in Woking, England on the outskirts of London until 10 October 2016 when it was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev. Prior to that date, it was the world ...

group of breweries. The company still owns the prominently visible brewery in the Rímac district.

Breweries

Backus owns breweries in various parts of Peru. Its main brewery is located in

, while the other breweries are still located in the parts of Peru they used to serve before the take-over by Backus and Johnston. * Ate brewery in

(now ''Cristal'', ''Cusqueña'', ''Barena'' and ''Polar'' ) * Motupe brewery in

Chiclayo Chiclayo (; qu, Chiklayu) is the principal city of the Lambayeque region in northern Peru. It is located inland from the Pacific coast and from the nation's capital, Lima. Founded by Spanish explorers as "Santa María de los Valles de Chicla ...

(now ''Cristal'' and ''Pilsen Callao'') * Trujillo brewery in Trujillo (former ''Pilsen Trujillo'', now ''Cristal'', ''Pilsen Callao'' and ''Pilsen Trujillo'') * Arequipa brewery in

Arequipa Arequipa (; Aymara and qu, Ariqipa) is a city and capital of province and the eponymous department of Peru. It is the seat of the Constitutional Court of Peru and often dubbed the "legal capital of Peru". It is the second most populated cit ...

(former ''Arequipeña'', now ''Arequipeña'', ''Cristal'', ''Cusqueña'' and ''Pilsen Callao'') * Cusco brewery in

Cusco Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the seventh most populous in Peru ...

(former ''Cusqueña'', now ''Cristal'', ''Pilsen Trujillo'', ''Cusqueña'' and ''Pilsen Callao'') * Pucallpa brewery in

Pucallpa Pucallpa (, qu, puka allpa, lit=red dirt; Shipibo: ''May Ushin'') is a city in eastern Peru located on the banks of the Ucayali River, a major tributary of the Amazon River. It is the capital of the Ucayali region, the Coronel Portillo Prov ...

(former ''San Juan'', now ''Cristal'', ''Pilsen Callao'' and ''San Juan'')

Brands

Beers

Backus and Johnston and Grupo Empresarial Bavaria own most of the popular beer brands in Peru, including: ''San Juan'', a 5%

abv Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

pale lager Pale lager is a very pale-to- golden-colored lager beer with a well- attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid-19th century, when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale brewi ...

. San Juan is brewed in the Backus brewery located in

. Before the take-over by Backus, San Juan was brewed by Cervecería San Juan S.A.A. This brewery was founded on 2 September 1971 in

in the

Ucayali Region Ucayali () is an inland department and region of Peru. Located in the Amazon rainforest, its name is derived from the Ucayali River. Its capital is the city of Pucallpa. It is the second largest department in Peru, after Loreto. Geograph ...

and named after San Juan Bautista. ''Cusqueña'' is one of Peru's most ubiquitous brands. It has been traditionally produced in a "''dorada''" (golden) and a "''negra''" (black) styles. The latter is typical of a lighter porter, not quite as dark as most stouts. In recent years ''Cusqueña'' has also been sold in red lager, ''trigo'' (wheat), and

quinoa Quinoa (''Chenopodium quinoa''; , from Quechua ' or ') is a flowering plant in the amaranth family. It is a herbaceous annual plant grown as a crop primarily for its edible seeds; the seeds are rich in protein, dietary fiber, B vitamins, a ...

variants. ''Arequipeña'' was a rival product to Cusqueña and Cristal until the take-over by Grupo Empresarial Bavaria. ''Arequipeña'' is brewed in the Cervecera del sur del Peru brewery located in Sachaca near

. Barena; Cristal ''Cusqueña'' is a light lager, or a dark malted beer. Some label designs were created by Barry Laughlin. * Callao is a 5% abv

pilsener Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň (german: Pilsen), where the world's first pale lager (now known as Pilsner Urquell) was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell ...

(

); the brand was originally owned by the National Beer Company, which was acquired by Backus and Johnston in 1994. * Trujillo (pilsener) Trujillo
Pilsen Trujillo
12 October 2007. * Barena * Malta Polar (Peru) Backus and Johnston also has a license to import

Birra Peroni Peroni Brewery () is a brewing company, founded by Francesco Peroni in Vigevano, Italy in 1846. It is probably best known worldwide for its pale lager, ''Nastro Azzurro'' (5.1% ABV), which was the 13th best-selling beer in the United Kingdom in ...

Nastro Azzurro in Peru.

Soft drinks

The soft drinks owned by Backus include ''Viva'', a beverage similar to

Inca Kola Inca Kola (also known as "the Golden Kola" in international advertising) is a soft drink that was created in Peru in 1935 by British immigrant Joseph Robinson Lindley. The soda has a sweet, fruity flavor that somewhat resembles its main ingredie ...

and ''Guaraná'', a beverage containing

guaraná Guaraná ( from the Portuguese ''guaraná'' ), ''Paullinia cupana'', syns. ''P. crysan, P. sorbilis'') is a climbing plant in the family Sapindaceae, native to the Amazon basin and especially common in Brazil. Guaraná has large leaves and clu ...

fruit. *

Guaraná Guaraná ( from the Portuguese ''guaraná'' ), ''Paullinia cupana'', syns. ''P. crysan, P. sorbilis'') is a climbing plant in the family Sapindaceae, native to the Amazon basin and especially common in Brazil. Guaraná has large leaves and clu ...

Viva Viva may refer to: Companies and organisations * Viva (network operator), a Dominican mobile network operator * Viva Air, a Spanish airline taken over by flag carrier Iberia * Viva Air Dominicana * VIVA Bahrain, a telecommunication company * Vi ...

* Saboré (this product line was terminated in 2008)

Bottled water

Bottled water is produced under the brand names Cristalina Backus and San Mateo. * San Mateo is a Peruvian brand of

PET A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence ...

bottles of 600 ml, 1.5, 2.5 and 7 litre. * Cristalina Backus

References

External links

*
Backus web site
*
San Juan web site
* {{Authority control SABMiller Beer in Peru Companies based in Lima Drink companies of Peru Peruvian brands Backus and Johnston brands