Flemish Minister President Mathias Diependaele will tap the first Brugse Zot in Rio de Janeiro

Since 2016 De Halve Maan has been active in Brasil, by developing a sustainable presence of its beer brands in different regions in the country. The beer brands “Brugse Zot” and “Straffe Hendrik” belong to the super premium category of speciality beers in Brasil. They are distributed into trendy bars and specialized retail chains. There is an increasing demand for these authentic importation beers into the growing middle class and youngsters. The image of high quality Belgian importation beers is much appreciated by consumers. The mature beer market of Brasil is rather attracted to the diversity that Belgian beers can offer.

As one of the only Belgian breweries, De Halve Maan developed a local “boots on the ground” team that is dedicated to develop its brands and distribution throughout the country in the different areas. Halve Maan Brazil was founded in 2016 by the local partner and General Manager Marcel Ocampo. The first activities were mainly situated in Sao Paulo, but in the recent years it was further expanded to different other regions. This approach leads to a growing popularity of “Brugse Zot” in different parts of the country.

The mission is held from 22th November till 1st December 2024. The presence of HRH Princess Astrid of Belgium supports the further development of economical ties between Belgium and Brazil. As one of the most prominent speciality beer importers to Brazil, De Halve Maan brewery was invited to join the mission. During the mission, several important distribution agreements will be signed by De Halve Maan with different partners and distributors:

• On 26th November 2024 the brewery will sign 2 cooperation agreements in Sao Paulo during an official signing ceremony. The first agreement will be with Casa Santa Luzia for the commercialisation of Brugse Zot and Straffe Hendrik. The second agreement will be signed with Emporio Manfré, for the commercialisation of Brugse Zot, STraffe Hendrik and Blanche De Bruges in the southern state Parana.

   

• On 28th of November 2024 De Halve Maan will sign a MOU with Zona Sul at the Governor’s Palace in Rio de Janeiro. Zona Sul is a well-known supermarket chain in Rio, specializing in high end food and drinks.

Both signing ceremonies will be signed in presence of HRH Princess Astrid of Belgium, HE Hadja LAHBIB, Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs, and Foreign Trade, and the Federal Cultural Institutions; HE Rudi VERVOORT, Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region; HE Matthias DIEPENDAELE, Minister-President of the Government of Flanders and Flemish Minister for Economy, Innovation & Industry, Foreign Affairs, Digitisation and Facility Management; HE Pierre-Yves JEHOLET, Vice President of the Walloon Government, Minister of Economy, Industry, Digital, Employment and Training, in charge of Foreign Trade and HE Peter CLAES, Ambassador of Belgium to Brazil.

On Friday 29th November 2024 an official launch event will be held In the frame of Princely Mission to Brazil. De Halve Maan brewery is organising a formal launch of its “Brugse Zot” beer in Rio de Janeiro: a presentation will be held in Brewteco, in presence of HE Mr. Mathias Diependaele,
Minister President of Flanders, clients. He will be “tapping” the first keg of “Brugse Zot” ever served in Rio de Janeiro as official launch of this iconic beer in this new market.

The authentic appearance of De Halve Maan beers and their high quality make them even more attractive for the Brazilian beer market. Both Straffe Hendrik as Brugse Zot have won several awards at prestigious international beer competitions and probably belong to the most awarded Belgian beers. Meanwhile Brouwerij De Halve Maan successfully exports already 40 % of its production to more than 30 countries in the world. Consequently the beers are present in Europe Asia, Latin-America, the United States, Japan and China.

The brewery created special packaging to transfer the beer in a qualitative manner to far away countries. The bottles are not shipped in crates but are packaged in carton export boxes. Also barrels are filled in special “one way” barrels which are not returned to the brewery. All this packaging is 100% recyclable, in order to keep the ecologic footprint of the brewery as low as possible. They also assure good quality of the beers after overseas transport in extreme conditions.

Importation of beers in Brazil is a real challenge, when it comes to local regulation, labelling requirements, taxation and technical issues. De Halve Maan had to specialize and adapt packaging and labels specifically for the Brazilian market.

Since 1856 De Halve Maan Brewery has been in hands of the brewers families Maes & Vanneste. From 2005, Xavier Vanneste has been at the helm of the brewery, he is the 6th generation of the brewers family. He revived the brewery with the launch of the Brugse Zot, today the most popular beer of the brewery. The beers have won several international awards at prestigious competitions in the last years. As a result, the international demand for the beers increased considerably and the brewery was likely the fastest growing brewery of Belgium recently, with an annual “double digit” growth. Lately the brewery was on the international news with its most recent innovation: the construction of a 3.2 kilometer underground pipeline for beer transport. In 2018 the brewery also launched “Sportzot”: the first alcohol free Belgian Speciality beer.