Microbreweries: Case study based on extension and comprehensiveness

Abstract

The Integrality of the three university functions, Teaching, Research and Extension, is an important university objective. On the other hand, the production of craft beer is an interesting process when determining its costs and benefits. However, it is not usual for small breweries to have an information system. They start activities without certainty of their possible profitability. First, the objective of this work is to show how production costs can be analyzed in the case of four Uruguayan breweries, based on their participation in the Integral Training Spaces (EFI) of the FCEA-UDELAR. Then, it seeks to show how it was possible to achieve the integrality of three university functions in the project. At a theoretical level, the results obtained show that it is possible to identify the elements that operate as cost and income triggers. This allows studying the decision variables and their impact on the result. The benefit is positive and attractive for small producers who seek an objective job and personal satisfaction. The extensionist intervention allowed students to face a real case and solve it by working alongside the entrepreneur in a learning process through the exchange of knowledge, while at the same time nourishing inputs for Research and Teaching.