ABinBev and Club Colombia, Colombian beer pioneers, launched the FORTALEZA campaign to address the gender gap in the brewing industry in Colombia. The campaign aimed to reduce the 60% unemployment rate among women by creating the world's first mass-production beer line entirely operated by women. The brand recognized that the industry was male-dominated, and restrictive laws limited women's weight lifting capacity, excluding them from job opportunities.

The FORTALEZA campaign's primary objective was to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce, breaking down social barriers and stereotypes through positive social change. It required overhauling the manufacturing process to make it possible for women to operate the beer line and a new recruitment and training approach.

Apart from reducing the gender gap and providing job opportunities for women, the campaign aimed to increase efficiency and productivity, benefiting the company's bottom line by reducing costs and increasing brand reputation. Ultimately, the FORTALEZA campaign succeeded in transforming the way the brand operates, creating a transformative initiative that has the potential to bring about positive social change while also benefiting the company's bottom line.

We created "FORTALEZA", the first mass production line of beer operated by women in the world.

We replaced all the manual equipment in our breweries, so that technology would allow them to lift the weight that the law did not allow them to lift before.

We trained women who never imagined being part of this world and turned them into experts: mechanics, operators, electricians, brewers.

And for the whole country to know them, we launched the first batch of 40,000 beers made 100% by women in a commemorative package that served as a vehicle for more women to register and apply for new job opportunities and training in our plant.

The "Fortaleza" initiative, created by beer brand Club Colombia from AB-inbev, established the world's first mass production line of beer exclusively operated by women. The campaign addressed the gender gap in the brewing industry and high unemployment rate for women. The target audience was women over 25 years old seeking employment in operational positions. To gather data, Bavaria partnered with its corporate governance team to explore alternative technology solutions to reduce the gender pay gap in its plants. The idea was relevant for women in Colombia and caught the attention of several media outlets, improving the company's reputation in the country. The commemorative packaging of the first batch of 40,000 beers made 100% by women served as a vehicle for more women to register and apply for new job opportunities and training. The campaign's innovative and scalable approach could be implemented in other parts of the world facing similar issues.

For International Women's Day, we designed and launched the first inclusive brewing production line in the world which, supported by technology and adapted equipment can be operated 100% by women without exceeding the maximum load of 12.5KG required by law. We hired and trained female personnel to start up this new line and told the world about this great innovation with a campaign where the female operators were the protagonists, while launching and selling a special edition pack with the first 40,000 beers produced by Club Colombia on the inclusive line and a QR code inviting women to apply for job offers at our breweries and a technical training program specifically developed in partnership with the Colombian national government (SENA).

Currently, 2 more Fortaleza lines have been opened and the goal for 2026 is to have at least one in each one of AB-InBev breweries in LATAM.

Bavaria AB-Inbev entered the Top 3 PAR AEquales Ranking of the most equitable companies in Colombia and the Top 6 in LATAM (position #21 to #3 and #6 post-campaign and project). Currently, 2 more inclusive FORTALEZA lines have opened and the goal for 2026 is to have one on each of Bavaria's breweries.


Also, over 2,500 women registered for our educational technical program, more than 20,000 units of commemorative packaging and 40,000 beers sold out in major cities, 303M COP in credibility value of free press + influencer marketing volunteer (PR 2.0), 81% positive + neutral sentiment and more than 202M Impressions (YT+ FB) and a total reach of 1,898,205 people

In terms of Women's Brand Equity from H2 2021 to H1 2022, an increase of: +0.9 Brand Power (9.8 to 10.7), +5.9 Brand Love (53.2 to 59.1) and +1.9 Brand Consideration (73.7 to 75.6)