CCSI Cork Crowncap Database - Brewer/Bottler
   
Entered: 17 Nov 2016 23:12 - Bob Burr - Modified: 20 Feb 2018 12:13 - Jon Bailey
 Brewer/bottler #8474
Name La Casera S.L.
Address  
City Madrid
State/Province Madrid
Country Spain
Type Soft Drink Bottler
Website  
Extra info Francisco Duffo Foix, born in Saint Laurent de Nest , France , in 1873 , he emigrated as a young man to Argentina where he began to work representing various international brands. On a trip to San Sebastian , Spain , he meets his wife, Victoria González, with whom he will have five children.
The family moves to Paris . There Mr. Duffo takes over the representation of the British Siphon company, the siphons become one of the star products among the large number of products sold to the whole world.
In 1914 , with the First World War , he interrupted his activity and returned to Spain . First he settled in San Sebastian and later in Barcelona , where he began to manufacture the siphons himself, selling them under the brand name El Rayo . At that time, in the 1920s, after meeting in Paris with the directors of the Coca Cola company, he obtained the first concession for Spain of the American brand, which he successfully bottled and marketed until the Civil War . Two years later, their children would be responsible for bringing and popularizing in Spain another foreign beverage, the tonic , by becoming in 1957 Schweppes dealers for Spain.
The war supposes a parenthesis for its businesses due to the lack of prime matter and the postwar period brings a serious crisis. At that time there were endless brands of soda, they were very local brands made by hand. His son Félix Duffo has the idea of ??making soft drinks to another level, get a soft and pleasant drink, with a standardized format that can be sold massively throughout the country. The Duffo brothers were willing to put their every bit in the ambitious project: Francisco son, the distribution throughout Spain; Víctor -manufacturer of essences and syrups-, smell; and Felix, the coordination.
On May 31, 1949 , La Casera SL is constituted. On August 23, 2,300 pesetas are paid for the opening license of a 371-meter factory in Madrid .
In April 1950 the first 1,417 bottles of La Casera appeared on the market, which were sold for 1,700.40 pesetas. One liter bottles were sold, replacing the traditional cork closure with a rope, by a mechanical closure with a porcelain stopper, like the oxygenated water, thus giving the image of something modern and hygienic. In June, 25,000 were manufactured and by the end of the year 380,090 liters had been sold, which meant an income of almost half a million pesetas. In order for housewives to get to know the product, a delivery boy on a three-wheeled bicycle gave the bottles to the neighborhoods. The housewife kept the helmet and if she wanted a new one she would have to pay 1.20 pesetas, a luxury for that time.
In each place where La Casera wanted to establish itself, the strongest soda factory was bought or a collaboration agreement was signed. In this period a network of own distribution is created to reach all the corners of a post - war Spain very poorly communicated, which gave rise to curious anecdotes. The tortuous and steep streets of Jerez de los Caballeros were traversed for years by 10 donkeys who left the factory together and made the distribution with no other company than their instinct. Each donkey made his itinerary, standing without error at the door of his customers, who collected the goods and left in their place the empty helmets. Another curious case was that of Navalvillar de Pela : the cast was made in the hearse, and on the day of the burial there was no gas.
In the 60's new flavors are created, La Casera Limón and La Casera Naranja appear. Everything grows year after year until reaching in 1971 to a production of 300,000 liters per hour, it becomes the family drink par excellence and the typical complement of table wine.
In 1986 La Revoltosa is condemned to pay 1 million pesetas to La Casera for using the same containers. 3 At that time, La Casera was the best-selling soft drink market in Spain and the eighth best-selling soft drink in the country. It owned 40 bottling plants. In 1984, it sold 518 million liters of soft drinks. In addition, it owned the brands Monte Verde, Play's, Surffing and Twin and was licensed to market the American drink Seven Up. 3 In 1984, La Casera earned revenues of 15,273 million pesetas and had a staff of 2,600 workers.
However, there was a progressive loss of market share from 19.1% in 1990 to 12.3% in 1995. 4 In November 1995, the Iberian Beverage Group (IBG) acquired the Duffo family 51% of La Casera. The group was formed by the Bavaria beer group (controlled by the Colombian family Santo Domingo), the Belgian family Bergruven and Westford and by a US investment fund specializing in corporate restructuring.
In December 1995 the number of La Casera workers had been reduced to 935 and the brand presented a feasibility plan that included layoffs of more than 400 people and the closure of several factories. 5 The unions protested against this plan and in April 1996 it was agreed that only 260 people would be fired (29% of the workforce). 6 In May 1996 IBG took control of 100% of the shareholding of the company. 7 At the end of 1996 the company began exporting to Cuba, Colombia, Morocco and Algeria. 8 In 1997 the company begins to have losses instead of profits.
In February 1999, the French investment fund Paribas bought 13% of the shares of La Casera from the Bavaria group. 10 Bavaria had already sold 27% to the Berggruen family. 10 As of March 1999, La Casera again had benefits.
In December 1998, Coca-Cola agreed to acquire the Cadbury Schweppes brands. This agreement initially excluded the United States, France and South Africa. 12 La Casera appealed to the Spanish and Community courts of commercial jurisdiction because such an agreement would result in 72% percent of the soft drinks being marketed by the Coca Cola company, and this would do all the premises in the sector of the catering contracted their supply with Coca Coca, leading to a situation similar to that of the monopoly. 13 Pepsico shared La Casera's thesis and made the same claims. 14 Because of these claims, Coca Cola agreed that the agreement would not apply to any country of the European Union (except the United Kingdom, Ireland and Greece) and that, in the same continent, it would not apply to Norway and Switzerland either.
In May 1999, IBG acquired 65% of the Kalise La Menorquina group for 29600 million pesetas. The group Kalise La Menorquina was in the hands of the North American group TLC Beatrice International. 16 As of the year 2000, La Casera began to export its product to Italy.
In 2001 the British group Cadbury Schweppes bought La Casera for 19,467 million pesetas. Although it marketed brands such as the tonic Schweppes, Trina or Oragine, La Casera came to represent an eighth of its sales.
In November 2005 Cadbury Schweppes reached an agreement with investment funds Lion Capital and Blackstone to sell their drinks in continental Europe for 1,850 million. Among those brands were La Casera and Trina.
  
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