Booze Buster — Re-crafting the “Traditional” and “Craft Beer” Market from Europe to Africa and Back
Why, where, and how, are “traditional brewers” exploiting and investing in the “Booze” sector in Africa?
With all the recent reporting on brewers cashing in on Africa, especially Heineken in recent times. The following headlines may provide a backdrop “Africa: The fastest growing beer market,” and “Multinational brewers look to tap Africa’s $13bn beer market.”
This takes me back to one of my “old” articles, where I sought to evaluate the impact of the country-of-origin effects on the consumption patterns of “made in” Nigeria Guinness as opposed to Guinness “owned by” Ireland. In that article, I traced the trend of “Nigerian Guinness” in the international market – taking London as a case illustration while noting that St James’s Gate was at the root of the “black brew.”
Welcome to Guinness Nigeria | Home (guinness-nigeria.com)
I must admit that at the time of publication of the article, I had not imagined that the alcoholic beverage market was on the cusp of disruption — yes it’s not only in Tech that the term applies.
Indeed, since the article published, there have been numerous manifestations of the changing landscape of the booze industry. A quartet of examples include — (i) the rise of craft beers; (ii) transformation of “Prosecco” from cheap to masstige ;(iii) Jay Z’s decamping from “Crystal” to Armand Da Brignac (aka Ace of Spades); and (iv) the scramble for Africa orchestrated by big brands such as Heineken.
With Africa being reported as the “fastest growing beer market” in a 2016 report, a recent Forbes article has also highlighted how women in Africa have made the most of the Covid-19 pandemic to hone their craft beer brewing skills.
Stoutsphere… Moving on up
Guinness celebrated International Stout Day with “Stoutosphere,” a limited edition brew combining two of Planet Earth’s favourite drinks: beer and coffee. Ultimately, Guinness is looking beyond booze and consciously or unconsciously inspiring a craft beer revolution both on earth and in space.
In a November 2018 article “Irish female astronaut inspires new interstellar beer,” it was reported that
“A woman who is set to become the first Irish person to travel to space has inspired Guinness to explore crafting a beer suitable for consumption in space. Dr. Norah Patten, a native of Ballina in Co Mayo, an aeronautical engineer… inspired Guinness’s new Stoutsphere…”
All said and done, “Big Booze” (i.e., multinational beer brands) are being challenged by indigenous, albeit “small-time” or craft brew players on the continent. This resonates with a recent Marketing Week article, which highlighted the re-positioning a once-upon-a-time player in this space.
BrewDog is positioning itself as a ‘Beer For All’ as it looks to put the claims of its “toxic attitude” and “culture of fear” behind it.
Besides, Heineken only recently promoted Michael Gillane to the position of UK marketing director, replacing Cindy Tervoort was moved to a new role within the Heineken Group — which means relocation to the Netherlands to become managing director of Beerwulf, Heineken’s online craft beer retailer.
In my article, Brewers in Africa Part 2, I reflected on “indigenous African Brewers” such as Hero Beer (Nigeria) seeking to engage their target audience through “emotional” rather than “rational” appeals — borrowing a leaf from the consumer behaviour, and/ or marketing communications lexicon.
Ultimately the battle for booze in Africa is panning out in a myriad of directions — as multinationals “indigenise”— learning and brewing this craft “beer necessity” is something to watch.
