With investment from Grain Australia, we have been engaging closely with key players in the malting and brewing industries of Central and Latin America to build relationships, demonstrate value and capture their quality preferences for malting barley.
The consolidated findings will be shared with Grains Australia to assist with informing strategy and decision-making on opportunities for Australian barley in markets such as Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru.
AEGIC Lead Markets Manager Mary Raynes travelled to these markets in August and September 2025, following initial visits in early 2025 to begin engagement with brewing companies and seek their collaboration.
2025
Mexico is a beer giant and the world’s largest beer exporter, pouring out more than US$6 billion in sales in 2024.
While in Mexico, Mary met with major breweries and malting companies including to receive their preferred quality preferences and further understand this important market.
Mexico is already an important market for Australian barley. Mexico sources around 400,000-500,000 tonnes of malting barley imports each year, with Australia supplying greater than 60%. Australia is working alongside Mexico’s malting and brewing sector to deepen relationships, expand technical cooperation, and share innovation. This partnership supports Mexico’s brewers with reliable quality and applied research while identifying where Australian barley can add value. In a competitive landscape that includes the United States and Canada, sustained, constructive engagement in Mexico remains a priority.
Colombia produces over 22 million hectolitres of beer annually for a population of 52 million. Beer accounts for nearly 90% of all alcohol consumed.
Colombia imports about 400,000 tonnes of barley annually. Australia is not currently exporting to this market, however building relationships at a technical level supports the understanding of the high quality of Australian barley.
While in Colombia, Mary met with Bavaria Brewery (AB InBev) which controls 99% of the Colombian beer market.
Our travels in 2025 also included Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru.
Brewers and maltsters across the region have demonstrated strong support for AEGIC’s efforts in this space.
Building relationships and collating objective insights into barley quality preferences for customers in Central and South America will help the Australian industry better understand opportunities in the region, and further stimulate demand for Australian barley.