An economic powerhouse proudly investing on the Dominican Republic

With a millionaire investment, state-of-the-art technologies and the best business practices, Bepensa has become one of the most important players in the Dominican economy.

“Being a diversified and constantly growing industrial group, we have found a perfect match in the Dominican Republic”, assures Mr. Fernando Del Rio Gutiérrez, General Manager of Bepensa Dominicana. Since Bepensa started its Dominican operations in 2006, they have not only positioned as undisputed leaders in the non-alcoholic beverage sector, but as one of the major drivers of the Dominican economy. Having the franchise of Coca-Coca in the country, Bepensa Dominicana has invested more than US$300 million in technology, human resources, machinery and infrastructure; and “we continue to invest around US$30 million each year because we believe the country is undergoing a gigantic growth process and has enormous potential”, says Mr. Del Rio Gutiérrez confidently.

As part of these investments, Bepensa Dominicana has a state-of-the-art production plant with 11 distribution lines, 16 distribution centers and 40,000 refrigeration equipments. They manage more than 300 delivery routes serving over 65,000 customers directly, employ around 2400 direct workers and have an indirect impact over 15.000 people. Besides Coca-Cola, they work with both internationally recognized brands like Sprite, Dasani, Del Valle and Monster, as well as national brands like Country Club, a Dominican staple with more than 70 years of history. “There is not a place in the Dominican Republic where we are not present, we have 300 red trucks selling our products all day long”, states Mr. Del Rio Gutiérrez.

Moreover, Bepensa Dominicana is the only company in the country to obtain four international certifications, and is one of the pioneering companies to adopt the “Made in the DR” seal, created by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Mipymes to promote the quality of na tional production and man ufacturing; it is also the first company in the industrial sector to be awarded the “Igualando DR” Platinum Seal, an initiative of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the United Nations Develop ment Program (UNDP) to recognize companies that pro mote gender equality internally.

Additionally, they have received the Great Place to Work certification for six years in a row, for their good personnel management, practices and internal initiatives. One of these, their “Somos iguales” project, has been applied very successfully in their Bonao distribution center, which is currently led by a woman and 54% of the team is female, including the entire sales team and the management team. Plus, it is the distribution center with the highest Great Place To Work index in the company. Like Mr. Del Rio Gutiérrez explains, “our industry, especially in sales distribution, has always been dominated by men. So one day we asked ourselves: what would happen if one of our distribution centers was run for the first time by a woman? What would happen if it was operated, led and managed by a majority of women? We got down to work, launched the project and now it’s working beautifully.”

Another initiative, developed hand in hand with the Minister of Industry, is a project to train shopkeepers and cafeteria owners in marketing, digital platforms, promotional techniques and inventory management. It started in 2021 and by 2022 already had more than 5000 trained. “Basically we are giving them free training to help them improve their business. They are valuing it very well and this year we are going to reach 10,000 shopkeepers”, assures Mr. Del Rio Gutiérrez. As an international business group, Bepensa is present in the USA, the Dominican Republic and Mexico. It is comprised of more than 40 companies grouped into five major divisions: the Coca-Cola franchise, which represents 60% of the group, and makes Bepensa the 4th largest Coca-Cola bottling company in Latin America; Bepensa Spirits, which handles the wine and spirits market after the acquisition of Pernord Ricard in 2014 and La Madrilena in 2022; Bepensa Motriz, which is focused on the sale, distribution, leasing and servicing trucks, automobiles, engines, generators, industrial equipment and spare parts; an industrial division that brings collateral products to the beverage industry, such as refrigeration equipment; and Bepensa Capital, its financial division.

In the coming years, Bepensa Dominicana expects to implement a new production line and continue to expand its operations. After all, like Mr. Del Rio Gutiérrez says, “we came here and we are going to stay. In fact, we are looking forward to continue being fundamental actors in this country’s impressive transformational process.”