In 1996, the news of the groundbreaking ceremony for a local brewery at Balashi surprised many who thought the business could not be sustainable, after all how much beer can we drink in Aruba? They were wrong.
With an investment in excess of 20 million florin, Meta Corp. collaborated with German partners on the proposed venture. They combined some of the best drinking water in the world, Aruba’s, with the latest German technology, to produce Balashi, a world-class product for local consumption and export.
It made perfect sense. Meta Corp., already owned the local Coke filling plant, Tropical Bottling, and Balashi’s production line happily shared the space with the world’s most popular soda brand, one side of the plant brewed, boiled and chilled, the other mixed and filled. They both used the amazing bottle washing machine and shared modern canning and labeling capabilities.
Then exactly 10 years ago, the brewery was inspired to create Chill, it’s second beer and launched it successfully during Carnival season. Sold in sunny bottles or cans, with the clear label, Chill now jumps off shelves easily, landing into open hands and supermarket shopping carts, even before being invited in.
So what’s the secret? Made in small batches, always fresh, no sugar added, and most distinctly, located in Balashi, right next to the water desalination plant, with world famous water and boutique attention to detail.
Both Balashi Chill & Magic Mango are now the “greenest” beers on Aruba, successful at recouping over 90% of its bottles, thanks to a generous bottle return policy, and a state of the art bottle washing and recycling operation, saving many empties from the landfill.
Chill, the name itself is a thrill.