Empresas Polar is a

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

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 be ...

, founded in 1941 by Lorenzo Alejandro Mendoza Fleury, 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, abbreviated as 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 ...

. 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 includes many forms of processing foods, from grinding grain to make raw flour to home cooking to complex industr ...

and packaging, also covering markets abroad.

Products

Original line

Production of ''Cerveza Polar'', 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 ...

lager Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "storage" ...

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 hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...

, 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 ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, 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 v ...

, 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.

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 soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...

and

Diet Pepsi Diet Pepsi 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-branded as ''Diet Pepsi'' the following year, becom ...

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, cold, and creamy sauce or dressing commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, composed salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various other sauces, such as tartar ...

ketchup Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and tangy flavor. The unmodified term ("ketchup") now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes used egg whites, mushrooms, oysters, grapes, mussels, or walnuts, among other ...

margarine Margarine (, also , ) is a 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 spread was orig ...

and a blue biodegradable

soap Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...

(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. Alimentos Polar, C.A. is an Empresas Polar subsidiary that operates in the foods and drinks area, manufacturing and sending deliveries to its clients. Rice On February 28, 2009 Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez ordered the military to temporari ...

* Pepsi Cola Venezuela, C.A.

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.

References

External links

RateBeerEmpresas Polar
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Polar Polar may refer to: Geography Polar may refer to: * Geographical pole, either of two fixed points on the surface of a rotating body or planet, at 90 degrees from the equator, based on the axis around which a body rotates * Polar climate, the c ...

Conglomerate companies of Venezuela Venezuelan brands 1941 establishments in Venezuela PepsiCo bottlers Multinational companies headquartered in Venezuela