The Belgians are coming: Bavaria buys U.S.-based Latis Imports, plans to expand its big Belgian/Dutch portfolio to America

Bavaria is a federal state of Germany located in the southeast of Deutschland. It’s not to be confused with Bavaria Brewery, which is the second largest brewery in the Netherlands. Founded before 1680, it has been owned by the Swinkels family since 1773. The company, which produces 500 million liters of beer annually, is based in Lieshout, but its reach is steadily growing globally.

This past May, Bavaria N.V. (its holding company being Swinkels Family Breweries N.V.) acquired Palm Belgian Craft Brewers (PBCB), which owns several different Belgian breweries and brands such as Palm, Rodenbach, Steenbrugge and Cornet. Now, this growing family of Belgium beers is heading to America. Bavaria N.V. just announced it has acquired Latis Imports, the U.S.-based Belgian specialty beer importer.

Bavaria is moving full steam ahead with its international expansion strategy. In fact, Latis already imports Belgium beers such as Palm and Rodenbach and will now bring a wider portfolio of brands to the market, among which includes Hollandia and Claro from the wider Bavaria portfolio (yeah, they own a lot). From the press release:

“Through the years, Latis Imports has done a tremendous job of educating the U.S. market and expanding the distribution around quality imports such as Rodenbach, Palm and others,” said Peer Swinkels, chief commercial officer of Bavaria N.V. “Following our acquisition of Palm Belgian Craft Brewers, it is a natural next step to expand geographically. This acquisition allows us to further expand Bavaria’s presence in the U.S., a country with a strong beer culture and deep appreciation of specialty crafted beer. We are excited about our growth opportunities and introducing new products to a thirsty U.S. audience under David’s continued leadership. Further, we look forward to continuing our partnership with Radeberger USA, as local sales agent, who has driven effective coverage and sound specialty beer building execution.”

Latis Imports was founded by David van Wees to make previously unknown beers available in the Americas. According to Bavaria, Van Wees will remain at the company as managing director of Bavaria’s U.S. operations — together with Arnoud van Schaik, regional sales director of the Americas.