AJE, formerly known as Ajegroup, is a multinational company dedicated to the manufacture,

distribution and sale of alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages. The company was started by the
Añaños Family in Ayacucho, Peru and now is headquartered in Lima, Peru and in Madrid, Spain[2]
It is known for its flagship products Kola Real and Big Cola. Ajegroup is privately owned by Grupo
Embotellador ATIC of Madrid, Spain, the holding company owned by the Añaños-Jerí Family from
Ayacucho, Peru.

AJE

Type Private company

Industry Beverage

Founded 1988 by Añaños-Jerí Family

Headquarters Lima, Peru[1]

Key people Angel Añaños, CEO & Chairman

Products Beverages

Number of employees 10,000 (2005)

Subsidiaries 7

Website www.ajegroup.com

700 ml Caral
Ajegroup has approximately 10,000 employees and operates in 22 countries across five
continents, placing it 12th among Latin American multinational companies.[3] Besides Peru and
Mexico, Ajegroup also has operations in Brazil,[4] Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El
Salvador, Nigeria, Guatemala, Honduras, India,[3] Indonesia, Thailand, Venezuela, Vietnam, and
Egypt. Its portfolio includes beverages, juices, nectars, light beverages, bottled natural water,
dairy and beer. It manages 17 trademarks in 48 different presentations of PET and glass bottles,
and also cans.

History

Ajegroup began in the late 1980s by the Añaños family in Ayacucho, Peru during the Peru's
military and terrorist conflict. This situation did not allow many vehicles to access the area where
the family lived and many traditional soft drink brands were not available to the customers in the
area. The Añaños family saw this as a business opportunity and they developed Kola Real by
using typical kitchen equipment and using recycled beer bottles. They first sold their drink
products to their neighbors, local people, and soon the demand grew quickly and they began a
leading soft drink company. Ajegroup eventually expanded to countries other than Peru. They
have businesses in Venezuela, Ecuador, Central America, Brazil, Colombia, Thailand, Nigeria,
Indonesia, Vietnam, and India. Ajegroup's main competitors are big companies such as Coca-
Cola and Pepsi.[5][6]

Strategy

Ajegroup employs certain strategies to help maintain its low cost economic plan. Ajegroup has
bottling plants in Huejotzingo, Monterrey, and Guadalajara. The largest of the plants is in
Huejotzingo, where production lines run for 24 hours a day, six days a week. Ajegroup therefore
produces its own plastic bottles, which provides a low-cost alternative to glass returnable bottles
and has helped brands like Big Cola compete with bigger names like Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
Ajegroup also utilizes lean staffing to cut costs, and modern equipment and kaizen, or
continuous improvement, to help reduce the number of workers on each of the Huejotzingo
plant's seven production lines to eight, which is fewer than half that of a typical bottling facility.
Ajegroup also gives deliveries to independent truckers rather than employing their own fleet of
trucks and drivers, saving money on distribution. This, in addition to their minimal advertising
technique, further reduces its costs. Ajegroup has had few television and billboard ads, and
primarily relies on word of mouth to find customers.[7]

Latin America
After 19 years of business AJE finally entered the market in Lima in 1999 by employing a low
prace strategy, keeping all products approximately 25% cheaper than competitors.[8]

The first expansion outside of Peru was into Venezuela, followed by Mexico, Equador, Columbia
and then Brazil.[9]

In 2007, Ajegroup entered the alcohol market. It launched its beer business in Peru, later
expanding to Mexico and Colombia.[10]

In 2011, Ajegroup took out their first bond, worth 200 million US dollars to finance future
growth.[11]

Asia

Ajegroup entered the Asian market in 2006[12] beginning with Thailand, which remains the center
of Asian operations with Soren Lauridsen as Ajegroup's regional director for Asia and managing
director of Aje Thailand since 2016.[13]

Ajegroup officially launched its flagship no-caffeine cola brand, Big Cola as a soft launch in
December 2010 in Mumbai, India. They strategically made ties with the release of the Sony
Pictures movie, 'The Amazing Spider-Man', in theaters. Big Cola launched limited editions of The
Amazing Spider-Man bottles in three flavors until August 2012. According to Sorin Voinea,
Director of Marketing (Asia Pacific), Ajegroup doesn't have intentions of necessarily competing
with Coca-Cola and Pepsi, but more so, to follow their accomplishments. Big Cola is not only
differentiating themselves through alternative methods of endorsement but also with being
caffeine-free and having lower prices. While some are skeptical that Big Cola will stand out,
Ajegroup's Sorin Voinea believes that their product has enough of its own identity to be
successful in the Indian soft drink market. Devendra Chawla, president of the food & fast-moving
consumer goods (FMCG), says that the response to the brand has been good at Big Bazaar. “It is
available at Big Bazaar in Mumbai and has done pretty well."[14][15]

Part of Ajegroup's success in countries like Thailand and Indonesia is due to the exclusive
licensing agreement between the company and the UK Football Association to promote in six
countries across Asia (India, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia) for 2 years.[16]

Africa

In 2015 Ajegroup started expansion into Africa via Nigerian subsidiary AJEast Nigeria Limited
led by Theo Williams, Country Manager Ajegroup.[17] Despite strong opposition from entrenched
brands like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, the initial capital investment into Nigeria was around N5
billion.[18]

In 2018 Duet Private Equity Limited announced a $50 million investment in AJEast.[19] The
investment led by Henry Gabay, CIO at Duet, is earmarked for expansion into additional African
countries and increased market share in middle-income households in Nigeria and select West
African markets.[20][21]

Products

SAGEER, India

Kola Real

Big Cola

Agua Cielo – a Peruvian brand of bottled water owned by the Ajegroup and sold in Peru,
Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia.[22] Cielo is sold in glass bottles of 400 ml and PET bottles
of 625 ml, 2-litre, 2.5-litre and 7-litre.[22]

Free World

Free World Light

Pulp

Oro

Cifrut

First

Sporade

Citrus Punch

Free Tea

Cerveza Franca

Cerveza Caral – a Peruvian brand of beer owned by AJE. It's the company's second brand on
the beer market after Franca.[23]

Club Especial

INDIA*India

AJEPER Peru

AJEVEN Venezuela

AJETHAI Thailand
 AJEBRAS Brazil

AJECUADOR Ecuador

AJECEN Costa Rica

AJEMEX Mexico

AJEMAYA Guatemala

See also

List of beverage companies of Peru

References

1. [1] Company Overview of Ajegroup SA

2. http://www.ajegroup.com/careers/working-aje/

3. http://www.livinginperu.com/news/14123 Peru's Ajegroup begins operations in India

4. http://www.livinginperu.com/news/13540

5. es:Big ColaTemplate:Circular referencedate=February 2019

6. "Archived copy" . Archived from the original on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 2 November
2012.

7. http://articles.latimes.com/2005/dec/28/business/fi-bigcola28/2

8. "Marketing Lessons for Coke from Peru's Big Cola" . INSEAD Knowledge. 20 August 2014.
Retrieved 27 September 2018.

9. "AJE – taking on bigger rivals | Financial Times" . Financial Times. 7 November 2011.

10. "Thailand: Beverage expansion" . Oxford Business Group. 23 October 2012. Retrieved
27 September 2018.

11. http://store.businessmonitor.com/article/456450

12. "Peruvian upstart AJE takes on Coke and Pepsi in Asia | Financial Times" . Financial Times.
21 July 2017.

13. "Maker of Big Cola makes Thailand its Asia centre - The Nation" . The Nation. Retrieved
27 September 2018.

14. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-06-15/news/32254646_1_cola-brands-
coke-and-pepsi-cola-giants

15. http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/can-big-cola-liveto-its-name/481122/
16. "Peruvian upstart AJE takes on Coke and Pepsi in Asia | Financial Times" . Financial Times.
21 July 2014.

17. "Is Indonesia a market template for AJE Group in Nigeria?" . Beverage Industry News (NG).
5 November 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2018.

18. "Is the new AJE group's Big Cola drink a worthy opponent for Coca-Cola in Nigeria? -
Ventures Africa" . Ventures Africa. 7 October 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2018.

19. "Duet invests $50million in AJEAST Nigeria" . Retrieved 27 September 2018.

20. Nsehe, Mfonobong. "Nigerian Beverage Company AJEast Raises $50 Million" . Forbes.
Retrieved 27 September 2018.

21. "AJEAST Nigeria Limited receives a boost with $50 million investment from UK firm duet -
Ventures Africa" . Ventures Africa. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.

22. "Ajegroup Cielo product information" . Archived from the original on 10 March 2009.
Retrieved 12 July 2009.

23. El Comercio Peru. Caral es el nombre de la segunda cerveza de la familia Añaños .

External links

AJE web site (in Spanish)

Kola Real Takes on Coca-Cola

In Mexico, Big Cola is the real thing

Soft drinks Ajeven invests US$1.5 million to expand production in Venezuela

Peru's Franca beer invests $6 million in the U.S. and Europe

Peru’s Ajegroup to start operations in Brazil and India

Last edited 1 month ago by Monkbot