Chill Beer Celebrates its 10th Anniversary

But first a short lesson in history: 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?

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, and launched it successfully during Carnival season. How did the name come about? Nobody remembers, it must have grown organically on brewers, and locals, because Aruba’s new beach suds were enthusiastically received and wholeheartedly embraced, a game-changer in the local market, giving all foreign beach beers a run for their money.

In 2018, while the taste remained exactly the same, the brand became brighter. The logo received a distinct sun surrounded by rays of sunlight, where before the wave could have been a sun. The cursive lettering became more playful and distinct, the blue-hued bottle was replaced by clear glass and best of all the label became transparent. The inscription on the back of the bottle minimized, but still carried the Keep Aruba Clean message.

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 do our tourists drink Chill, while the local crowd sticks to Balashi?? Or maybe it’s the other way around, both brands are popular in the market and little sister Magic Mango, recently became the fastest growing beer here, adored by women, loved by men.

So what’s the secret of Chill? 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.

The Balashi brewery is now a fully automated environment, with tight quality controls, all products bear the Aruban flag, so consumers are protected, they know where their beer is from, they know it’s fresh with no additive, no food coloring, deep golden in color, soft on the tongue and the nose, and easy on the foam cap.

Chill, the name itself is a thrill.

As its tag line suggests: “Take nothing but memories, leave nothing but footprints behind.” Please help us keep our beaches clean by bringing back all your empty bottles. It pays to be sustainable.