CCU's 'Vamos por Más': A New CEO and a Turnaround Strategy in a Soft Beverage Landscape
Chile's brewer bets on focus, synergies, and agility while navigating global wine headwinds and Argentina's recovery.
CCU · Earnings Call · 2026-08-05
A Change at the Top
Compañía Cervecerías Unidas (CCU) enters its next chapter with a leadership transition and a fresh strategic roadmap. New CEO Eduardo Rodríguez, a 20-year company veteran, opened the Q2 2026 call by unveiling new strategy „Vamos por Más“ – built on four pillars: focus on businesses, operational synergies, agility, and transformation. He framed it as a response to a challenging market: “We have designed the strategy Vamos por Más, which is built on our 4 main pillars… These pillars are oriented to generate growth and to respond to the new demands and challenges of the market.” — Eduardo Rodríguez · 2026-08-05 This marks a clear pivot from the previous 2025–2027 plan, now being replaced mid-course with a longer-term vision toward 2030. The contrast between Chile and the rest of the portfolio is stark. Chile posted a 26.2% EBITDA expansion, driven by volume growth and market share gains, while the wine segment cratered with EBITDA down 61.9% amid a cost of wine spike and global category decline. As CFO Felipe Dubernet explained, “Gross profit fell 26.9%, mostly due to cost pressures from a higher cost of wine, partially offset by efficiencies in manufacturing.” — Felipe Dubernet, Chief Financial Officer · 2026-08-05 The wine business remains the company’s biggest drag, but management is leaning into innovation – low-alcohol RTDs and wine-based cocktails – to redirect consumer occasions.Water, Argentina, and the Path Forward
A notable strategic move was the acquisition of Nestlé’s 49% stake in Aguas Nestlé, giving CCU full ownership of its water business in Chile. This strengthens CCU’s leadership in a category growing at low-double-digit rates and aligns with the consumer shift toward Purified Water and better-for-you products. Rodríguez emphasized the opportunity: “Within the water business… our strategy remains the same, but with this acquisition, we are going to strengthen certain part of that strategy.” — Eduardo Rodríguez · 2026-08-05 The transaction was funded from cash, lifting net leverage from 1.7x to 2.4x, but Dubernet expects to converge back to the 1.5–2.5x range as Argentina recovers. Argentina remains the swing factor. Volumes were down high-single-digit in beer, but the team sees a recovery in H2. Dubernet noted, “We should see a more robust consumption environment towards the end of the year as we have seen, let's say, some good signs in March in terms of improvement of volumes.” — Felipe Dubernet, Chief Financial Officer · 2026-08-05 This echoes prior commentary from the Feb 2026 call: “We have a robust growth in Chile growing 4.1% driven, as we highlighted, by the non-iconic category.” — Felipe Dubernet, Chief Financial Officer · 2026-02-25 However, the hedging policy stays unchanged – the company continues to avoid commodity and FX hedging, a stance reiterated by the CFO: “Our policy regarding hedging of commodities for exchange rate remain unchanged.” — Felipe Dubernet, Chief Financial Officer · 2026-08-05 Colombia is another bright spot with mid-teens volume growth and rising brand equity, though the new government adds uncertainty. CCU maintains its focus on revenue growth management and high-margin innovation, betting on premiumization and consumer-centric packaging.The full-year outlook hinges on Chile’s resilience, Argentina’s stabilization, and wine’s trough. While the company avoided giving formal guidance, the tone was cautiously optimistic. As Rodríguez closed: “We will act with more agility and more focus while delivering synergies and efficiencies across all our operating segments, together with the strengthening of our portfolio to adapt to new consumer trends.” — Eduardo Rodríguez · 2026-08-05We are going to interrupt the current strategic plan to create a new one – and this new strategic plan is based on the strategy format that I talked on the beginning of this presentation.