Chile's Independent Brewers Association (ACI) Introduces Its New Executive Director

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The ACI made the appointment public in Santiago on October 23, 2026. The association brings together 113 independent breweries from every region of the country and represents Chile’s micro and small breweries.

The Asociación Cervecera Independiente de Chile A.G. (ACI), Chile’s independent brewers association, has chosen Fabián Lara Mercado as its new executive director. Lara took office on October 14, 2026, after an open selection process.

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The association has set two priorities for this stage, a fairer beer tax for the sector’s small businesses and the recognition of craft beer as a product of cultural value for Chile.

For the association, Lara’s arrival marks the start of a new institutional chapter for the segment.

Craft Beer in the Chilean Economy

The beer sector in Chile contributes a total of US$5.4 billion to gross domestic product, equivalent to 1.6% of the country’s GDP, according to ACI figures. Around 4% of that contribution comes from the more than 450 craft breweries operating from Arica to Magallanes.

With that starting point, the association will draw up a strategic plan for the new stage. The plan will focus on the sustainable growth of its members in the face of large industrial conglomerates and on influencing public policy.

Andrés Pérez Peric, president of the ACI, stressed the importance of the change for the association’s future. His case rests on the new director’s technical profile and his experience in the public sector.

Fabián’s arrival is a milestone for our association. His technical profile and his experience in public policy are what we need today to build a better relationship with the State, put our internal management in order and move forward on critical projects for our breweries, such as achieving a fairer tax and supporting the development of our members from Arica to Magallanes.

Lara has more than 13 years of experience in the beer industry as a brewer, quality manager, teacher and judge at international competitions.

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Between 2022 and 2026 he headed the Policy and Studies Department and later the Planning and Innovation Unit of Chile’s Agricultural Development Institute (INDAP). He holds a degree in Applied Physics and a postgraduate diploma in Enology and Viticulture from the Universidad de Chile.

What Are They Proposing for the Beer Tax?

One of the central pillars of the new period will be pushing to modernize the Additional Tax on Alcoholic Beverages (ILA). The association proposes taxing beer according to its alcohol content and not its price.

The proposal includes special treatment for small producers and does not involve lowering tax revenue. With it, the association seeks to level the playing field against the large industrial players.

How to tax beer is under debate in other markets as well. Japan unified its beer tax this year, while the WHO is calling for higher taxes on alcohol.

The Push for Cultural Recognition

Alongside the tax debate, the association will seek to highlight the cultural role of craft beer and its recognition in regulation. The new executive director, Fabián Lara, put it in these terms.

Independent craft beer is much more than a drink. It accompanies the history of Chilean families and energizes regional economies. Our challenge today is to actively promote that recognition, showing how we are a living part of the national identity, and to highlight the cultural heritage that each producer rescues in their own territory. At the same time, we must secure the concrete conditions, both tax and commercial, so that these small breweries can compete fairly and build a future.

That cultural rescue has concrete examples in the country, such as the Chilean brewery that revived the miners’ Porter from 19th century Atacama.

What Is the ACI?

The Asociación Cervecera Independiente de Chile A.G. is the association of independent beer in Chile. It was created to celebrate, promote and protect the local beer culture and brings together breweries that do not belong to large alcoholic beverage companies.

The association promotes the Elige Cerveza Independiente de Chile (Choose Independent Beer from Chile) seal and organizes the Gran Festival Cervecero Independiente and the Copa ACI. Its website is acichile.cl and it can be found on social media as @acichile.