Present in the market for 17 years, Refriango has already invested more than 600 million dollars in the country, in a phased manner, having a long-term perspective to develop its business.
"We believe very much in this partnership model, we are in Angola, we know and believe in Angola [...], we want to continue to attract partners and investors to Angola, and to be in some way a help to attract partners, investment capital to this country," Refriango CEO (executive director) Diogo Caldas told Lusa.
The company intends, besides attracting partners and investors, to look at exports, "an important factor that will help Angola," he stressed.
According to Diogo Caldas, Refriango is looking at the surrounding countries to understand what it can export, not only its own brands, but also its partners: "Our ambition is to export in a short period of time, maybe already next year, to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Sao Tome and Principe".
Refriango announced this Saturday a partnership with Coca-Cola for the production and distribution of Minute Maid juices, which start being produced this month and will be available in three flavors.
"It is a very important partnership for Refriango, we feel privileged", said the responsible, adding that the agreement will allow the company to fill its installed capacity, with 27 filling lines and a capacity of 2.5 billion liters, which will be able to meet the needs of the domestic market and exports.
In the current conjuncture, marked by the economic and financial crisis and the covid-19 pandemic, Refriango was equally affected, and had to adjust and structure itself to what is the reality and the challenges of the country, said Diogo Caldas, stressing that they remain "optimistic and looking for solutions".
"Refriango had to make an adjustment. We had a larger structure, but unfortunately, because of the whole economic situation of the country, the difficulties of purchasing power, we had to adjust our staff team to also continue our path and our projects," said the CEO, indicating that 1000 jobs were lost due to the covid-19 pandemic.
"These new partnerships and projects, not only for domestic consumption but also for export, may force us to bring people in and hire new people, and what we want is to recover the people we lost," he added.
The partnership with Coca-Cola comes in addition to the existing one with Diageo, in the area of spirits, for the distribution and production of gin and whiskey brands produced according to international standards.
Questioned about the turnover in 2020, Diogo Caldas admitted that it was affected and that some categories suffered more than others, without giving numbers.
In turn, the marketing director of the Coca-Cola Company for Angola, Paula Lima Matoso, said that the American multinational was trying to introduce the brand in the country and that this project was "some time in the drawer.
Refriango is a company specialized in the production and distribution of soft drinks, juices, waters, energy drinks and alcoholic beverages, owning a portfolio of more than a dozen brands.
The company owns one of the largest industrial units on the African continent, with 42 hectares, 28 filling lines and a production capacity of over 2.3 billion liters per year, creating over 2000 direct jobs.
