Florida Ice and Farm Company (Fifco) announced the commercialization in Costa Rica of a beer produced by the Costa Rican company in their U.S.A. subsidiary North American Breweries (NAB), Genesse is a lager beer with a 4.5% alcohol volume and has a light flavor.

According to their press release, Genesee is one of the most important brands for their USA division, it was created 139 years ago in a brewery located in Rochester, New York which operates under the same name “Genesee Brewery”.

“We are very proud that our brands produced in the United States are crossing borders and that now ticos will be the first in the region to have the possibility of enjoying this authentic North American beer”, stated Gisela Sánchez director of Corporate Relations of Fifco.

This beer can be found at the Walmart, Auto Mercado and Perimercado supermarkets.

Florida Ice and Farm Company acquired NAB back in 2012, NAB is headquartered in Rochester, New York but it has five breweries in NY, Oregon, California and Vermont along with six direct points of sale for the consumers. Through Cervecería de Costa Rica they import other seven types of beer: Samuel Adam, Guinness, Paulaner, Budweiser, Corona, Toña and Gallo.

According to an article published in national newspaper El Financiero back in March of 2016, the import of beer in Costa Rica grew by 63% from 2011 to 2015, this despite an existing dispute regarding the method of taxing applied, which establishes that 64% of the applicable tax in imported beer must be paid once the final sale to the consumer is completed, which according to Cervecería de Costa Rica facilitates tax evasion, since many importers do not pay that final tax percentage. “We do not support new taxes, but we do support the revision of the existing ones and an efficient collection of the same”, said back then Gilberto Campos from Consumidores de Costa Rica.