Welcome to Camil's comments on the results for the fourth quarter of 2021. This year is very special. It marks the execution of our expansion strategy, reinforcing a positioning that I would like to emphasize again with you. We at Camil are a Brazilian multinational company with one of the most comprehensive platforms of products and brands that are leaders in the food market in Latin America. Today, we are already present in five countries and several categories with brands of relevant recognition by consumers and with a workforce of approximately 7,000 employees.
On slide three, we see that since the IPO in 2017, we have reinforced our growth strategy and invested more than BRL 1.1 billion in acquisitions, including SLC Alimentos in 2018, which is the fifth largest grain company in Brazil at the time, in addition to all the relevant acquisitions we made in the last year that we will elaborate more on the next slides. With these 2021 acquisitions, we entered into three new categories in a new country in Latin America, all in less than four months, with agile and efficient integrations and strategy, mapping of the commercial business and operating synergies. On slide four, starting with Brazil, in December, we completed the acquisition of Santa Amália.
Santa Amália is the fourth largest company in the pasta segment in the country, with leadership in the state of Minas Gerais, with more than 40% of the pasta market share in the region. This leadership in a place that since the IPO we have reinforced our interest in strengthening and expanding our operations provides important growth potential for our other categories in Brazil. In addition, we will use our distribution and sales force in other regions, such as São Paulo, to expand the pasta category. We have successfully integrated the operations in a short period of time and leveraged the expected synergies, doubling this amount to BRL 25 million per year in SG&A synergies. Besides pasta, in one of our last public events, which was Camil Day in December, we highlighted the announcement of the company's entry into the coffee category.
This is a major milestone in Camil's growth strategy. We first announced the acquisition of the Seleto brand, then the launch of coffee under the União brand, and then the investment made in the company Café Bom Dia. The three announcements put us at a new level to enter the category in 2022 on the right foot, an execution that has already been happening and is reaching several points of sale directly and indirectly, especially in São Paulo. União is one of the most traditional brands in the country and was once the market leader in coffee. We will take advantage of this consumer recall to revitalize a consolidated and prosperous brand, which already has the trust and preference of clients and consumers in the sweetened coffee category.
The operation we have today via Café Bom Dia in Varginha, Minas Gerais, one of the main coffee-producing regions of the country, allows us to reach a production capacity close to 36,000 tons. We are expanding this capacity to 60,000 tons a year and are confident in this execution. Internationally, we first announced the expansion of operations into Ecuador. We acquired the rice business of Dajahu, a leader in aged rice segment with high growth potential in the country. In addition, we announced the acquisition of Silcom, a company in Uruguay that will enable us to expand in the Uruguayan domestic market and will provide us know-how in a new category, healthy products, which are increasingly growing in preference and convenience among consumers. Slide five, here we take advantage of the amount invested in acquisitions.
I would like to highlight two other fronts in terms of value generation. We reached gross revenues of BRL 10.3 billion in the year, double our earnings in the last years when we went public, demonstrating our power to grow with economies of scale and organic growth, strategic acquisitions with relevant brands and operating synergies, as well as the agile execution of our business transformation for fast growth and insertion in our businesses. Furthermore, we distributed more than BRL 530 million in proceeds, in addition to those announced alongside the result of BRL 55 million, and we have canceled shares and buyback programs since 2018. Today, we have a program in place to repurchase 10 million shares, and we continue to focus on shareholder value creation actions.
Slide six, turning to the operating figures, we highlight the higher than historical average growth in volumes in the quarter and year-over-year. We posted 17% growth in Brazil in Q4 2021 and 7% in the year, mainly due to the increase in grain sales. In international, we posted a 44% growth in Q4 2021 and an expected 7% reduction in the year due to lower volumes in Uruguay and Peru. Slide seven, starting the analysis with grains in an industry with stable growth in consumption in the country, we strengthen our execution and commercial strategy, outperforming the competition and enhancing the growth of our premium brand Camil in the category.
We reported double-digit volume growth in the period for rice, with Camil brand growth standing out as a result of our focus on cross-selling strategies and product mix of brands with high recognition by consumers. Camil's net price was down by 20% in the quarter and up 2% in the year. Slide eight. In beans, we also posted double-digit growth in volume with the Camil brand again standing out. This effect was partially offset by the reduction in profitability in the year with a competitive scenario in bean prices in Brazil. We understand that this was a one-off effect, and the category is still in a process of recovery, experiencing new volume levels. Camil's net price was down by 1% in the quarter and up 1% in the year. Slide nine. In sugar, volume grew 1% in the quarter and remained stable in the year.
The result was influenced by the sales growth of the leading brand in the quarter and the lower pricing brands in the year. In the sequential comparison, it is worth noting that volumes were down as a result of a disruption in the overall delivery of refined sugar by the main sugar suppliers, which is a one-off scenario that was also offset by the profitability of the category in the period. Camil's net price was up 41% in the quarter and 46% in the year. Slide 10. In the fish category, the volume was impacted by the reduction in sales from the leading brands and sardines in the period, partially compensated by the growth in tuna. Volume was below expectations with difficulties and consequent disruption in the sourcing of local and imported raw material, partially offset by the sales effort in the tuna category.
Camil's net price was up 14% in the quarter and 17% in the year. Slide 11. In international, we reported significant growth in the quarter. On an annual basis, we posted an expected reduction in sales in Uruguay due to the reduction in stocks from one harvest to another, and consequently, less availability of raw material for sales last year. In Peru, we also had lower sales due to the country's economic and political scenario, with a drop in the consumption of packaged products compared to the consumption of rice in bulk. This effect was partially offset by the excellent performance in Chile, which has been showing growth in sales and profitability. As we have already mentioned, with no basis for comparison, we have aggregated the results from the date of completion of the transaction.
We are optimistic about improvements in efficiency and sales, and we are moving forward with the integration process into our business model. Finally, I would like to highlight that we have started a new cycle full of challenges with the expansion of our capacity to generate business and focus on the fast and efficient integration of our M&As. The team is 100% focused on maintaining efficient structures and taking advantage of sales and financial synergies with the new acquisitions, as well as focusing on the launch of the coffee category in Brazil. Now, to get into more details about the financial performance in the quarter, I would like to give the floor to Flavio. You may proceed, Flavio. Thank you, Luciano.
Now, moving to slide 13 and starting with the analysis of the financial performance, we reached the milestone of BRL 10.3 billion in gross revenue for the year and BRL 2.6 billion for the quarter. Net revenue totaled BRL 9 billion and BRL 2.3 billion for the year and the quarter, increases of more than 20% compared to the previous year. Slide 14. In the revenue front, it is worth mentioning that in Brazil, both prices and volumes had a positive impact when compared to the previous year, as already explained by Luciano by category. In the international business, we had the exchange rate effects on the negative side, but well offset by the increase in prices and volumes in the quarter. Slide 15.
Moving on to the financial highlights of the quarter, COGS was up by 25% with an increase in the prices of packaging inputs and raw materials, mainly sugar in Brazil, in addition to higher volumes and the addition of the acquisitions into the company's results. SG&A grew 40%, representing 15% of net revenue. The increase was due to sales expenses with an increase in freight and the company's sales level in the period, in addition to G&A expenses related to M&As of BRL 17 million.
Other operating revenues amounted to a + BRL107 million in the quarter due to non-recurring effects totaling 106 million BRL in the quarter and the year related to the valuation of the advantageous purchase of Dajahu in Ecuador and discounts obtained in the renegotiation of debts of Café Bom Dia, a company acquired in 2021 that was under judicial reorganization, and the difference calculated in the renegotiation and payment of taxes installments also of Café Bom Dia. Taking these factors into account, EBITDA for the quarter reached BRL 234 million , up 60% with a margin of 10.3%. Excluding the above described non-recurring effects of other operating revenues and other M&A expenses totaling BRL 86 million , EBITDA stood at BRL 146 million with a margin of 6.4% in Q4 2021.
It is worth noting that Adjusted EBITDA, both in the quarter and in the year, were impacted by Brazil's performance in the fish segment with raw material disruptions in sardines in the period and lower profitability in the bean category, as explained by Luciano. Both represented around 1 point margin in the expected result for the year. Slide 16. Moving on to the highlights of costs and expenses for the year. Cost of goods sold showed growth with an increase in the prices of packaging inputs and the acquisition cost of raw materials, mainly sugar and beans in Brazil. COGS, or cost of goods sold, as well as other indicators, was also impacted by the entry of wheat into the pasta category in Brazil and by Ecuador in the international business front.
SG&A for the year grew 18% but remained at levels of 14% of net revenue, maintaining our efficient and lean structure as we have always stressed as a priority for our business model. The growth occur with the entry of the results of Ecuador and Santa Amália in SG&A, in addition to the increase in sales expenses in Brazil, represented by increased freight and the company's higher sales level. It is worth noting that G&A was also impacted by mergers and acquisition expenses in the period, such as advisory and legal fees amounting to BRL 17 million. Other operating revenues amounted to BRL 109 million in the year for the same non-recurring reasons already explained, totaling BRL 106 million. In the year, EBITDA stood at BRL 810 million with a margin of 9%.
Excluding the non-recurring effects described above from other operating revenues and other M&A expenses, EBITDA was BRL 721 million with a margin of 8% for the year. Slide 17. The company's total debt was BRL 3.3 billion, an increase of 48% due to the new funding to cope with the recently announced acquisitions. Net debt over EBITDA LTM reached 2x at the end of the period. Even considering the four acquisitions made last year, the company is still leveraged with room to meet its commitments and proceed with its growth strategy. CapEx for the period was BRL 1 billion with BRL 848 million in mergers and acquisitions and BRL 244 million in other expansion and maintenance projects.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to reinforce that we executed two buyback programs in the last year and canceled as a subsequent event 10 million shares after the beginning of our new current buyback program, the 7th program since the IPO. We are at 360 million shares in total and currently repurchasing up to 10 million shares within 18 months. Slide 18. Finally, I would like to mention a few ESG highlights. We believe that the materiality strategy is the most assertive one for us to focus on topics that make an effective difference in our business and our surroundings. This year, we carried out our materiality matrix with consultation forwarded to more than 3,000 stakeholders, contemplating all the countries where we operate.
We are preparing to bring our sustainability reports to the market in the first half of 2022 following the best global practices and methodologies for transparency and disclosure, including GRI, SASB, TCFD, and our actions in support of the UN's Agenda 2030. Today, we have nearly 7,000 employees, and we have strengthened our internal ESG actions with working groups focused on environmental, procurement, social, and governance actions in all countries of operation with targets for the entire executive board and actions aligned to the Global Compact. It is important to highlight that all of our actions are based on the strategic pillars disclosed to you during our Camil Day. Our actions are focused on quality and sales, purpose and people, and efficiency and growth.
In regards to the environment in 2021, more than 40% of the rice husk produced by Camil was used internally to generate renewable energy, and 94% of the total energy used in Brazil came from renewable sources. In order to increase this use, we are developing a new thermoelectric plant with a capacity to consume up to 100% of the husk generation in the new Cambaí project with funding linked to the issue of green debentures by the company in 2021. This is an action totally connected to actions that help us with waste disposal, emission reduction, generation of renewable energy, and that provides a differentiated look at ESG associated to the company's operations.
On the social side, we support projects related to income generation, such as the free online confectionery course, Doce Futuro União, in addition to a training program in the communities surrounding our plants in line with the need for skilled labor. Still in the social area, we achieved levels of excellence when it comes to reducing accidents, as you can see, and we should have more indicators and information for you in the publication of the report and on a quarterly basis for monitoring purposes. Slide 19. In closing, we have made important expansion moves in 2021, and we believe that our broad and proven experience acquired over the years with the integration of our acquisitions places us in a unique position to not only correctly identify potential acquisitions but, more importantly, to quickly integrate them into our business model, delivering these gains in scale and efficiency.
We are focused on maintaining an efficient structure and always evaluating new expansion opportunities that we can exploit with our know-how and our distributed platform in Latin America. We remain at your disposal for Q&A in case you have any questions. Thank you very much.