The Listín Diario carries a report on how Presidente Beer is gradually expanding its sales in the US. Presidente Beer is now available in New York, Florida, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Puerto Rico. An estimated one million Dominicans live in the States, and Presidente beer is catching on with Latin American residents and Americans, as well. The president of Presidente Beer, Rafael Menicucci was recently invited to be the international grand marshall of the Dominican Parade in NY, the most important activity organized by that expatriate community in the US. Menicucci explained that the Dominican brewery is focusing on the US market. While it attempted its first exports to NY in 1984 (these had to be suspended due to problems with the distribution), and it wasn’t until the successful penetration of Miami in 1992 that the export market really took off. New York sales were resumed in 1996, after the successful Miami experience. Today, he says the company is selling 700,000 boxes of 24 bottles a year. Menicucci says that the company is investing US$100 million to expand its production capacity within the next two years. He says that export forecasts indicate they will have to double their present production capacity in five to 10 years time. He says the company has rode the wave of Dominican tourism. The many visiting Americans, Canadians and Europeans that have enjoyed the brand, are now potential consumers abroad. Regarding the rumor that Presidente Beer sold in the DR is not the same as that sold in the US, Menicucci says: "It’s the same beer maybe it tastes different in the warm Caribbean sun than in the dry heat of the Big Apple."
