Brahma launches World Cup beer grown on pitch

Anheuser-Busch InBev is to launch a limited edition of its popular Brahma beer made from barley grown on a football pitch where Brazil’s World Cup teams have trained for decades.

In a unique homage to the 2014 World Cup, the world of football and beer will come together to create Brahma Selecao Especial, a beer made from barley sown on the pitch of the Granja Comar training centre, according to a report by advertisingage.com.

Granja Comary is considered sacred ground to Brazilian soccer fans and one of the two iconic symbols of Brazilian soccer, along with Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium, which Sergio Gordilho, CEO of Brahma agency Africa, said inspired the idea of making a commemorative beer grown from barley sown on the field.

The pitch is not usually available for growing a crop of barley, but in a stroke of luck the Brazilian Soccer Confederation was remodelling its headquarters at the Granja Comary, with the training centre going unused.

Africa Lab, the agency’s innovation and product development unit, and AB InBev’s agronomists and brewers, spent two months preparing the soil to raise a crop of barley which was then harvested to make the beer.

Brahma Selecao Especial will be sold in Brazil from March, three months before the Brazil World Cup, priced at around twice the price of regular Brahma beer.

Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Brazilian football team’s, took a personal interest in the project fixing a camera to record the barley growing.

A more expensive version consisting of 2,014 bottles, each bearing a number between 1 and 2,014, can be pre-ordered at Brahma’s Brazilian website.

A few numbers have already been allocated with bottle No. 1 destined for coach Luiz Felipe Scolariil, No. 9 for Brazilian footballer Ronaldo, whose number 9 soccer jersey has been retired, and team captain Thiago Silva who will get No. 2,014.

The campaign will also include commercial, print ads, extensive point of sale, and videos about the project. The agency also developed the distinctive black can with lines in green and yellow, Brazil’s team colours.

Brahma is a Brazilian beer, originally made by the Companhia Cervejaria Brahma which was founded in 1888, and is now owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Anheuser-Bush InBev produces 400 million hectolitres of more than 200 beer brands with “Brahma” currently the ninth top beer brand worldwide and the sixth biggest in the company after Bud LIght, Budweiser, Corona, Skol and Stella Artois.