Keroche launches new malt beer brand as it grows customer choices

PHOTO | CHARLES KAMAU Tabitha Karanja CEO Keroche Brewaries with models hold the newly launch summit malt at the Carnivore grounds on September 5, 2013.  NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary
Chief executive Tabitha Karanja said introduction of Summit Malt was in line with the firm’s strategic plan of coming up with new products
Introduction of Summit Malt expands its reach to the middle-class for a company that previously concentrated on the low end of the market

 By MWANIKI WAHOME
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Naivasha-based Keroche Breweries Ltd has added to its menu of drinks the Summit Malt in the an industry that has in recent years’ experienced stiff competition.

Keroche has over the last two years rapidly introduced new products as it seeks to claim ground covered by the dominant East African Breweries Ltd that controls more than 50 per cent of the local market.

The malt beer joins Vienna Ice and Lemon Twisted Vodka launched in 2010 as a way of carving a niche in the spirits segment.

STRATEGIC PLAN

Company chief executive Tabitha Karanja said introduction of Summit Malt was in line with the firm’s strategic plan of coming up with new products to provide customers with a variety of beer products to choose from.

“We knew if we kept on innovating, and dreaming and believing we would be first to present to Kenyans the finest malt Lager that is 100 per cent malt and 100 per cent sugar free. I am happy to announce that one of our best ever efforts, a tough search for a perfect malt lager, has yielded Summit Malt,” she said during the launch of the beer at Cannivore grounds on Thursday last week.

The company commissioned Sh2.5 billion production line in November funded by a consortium of institutions which is capable of producing a broad spectrum of 30 beer brands and 600,000 bottles per day and an annual capacity of 100 million litres.

ENHANCED CAPACITY

Ms Karanja said the enhanced capacity would help the company grow its market share from the current two per cent to at least 10 per cent in a shorter period.

The battle for control of Kenya’s alcohol market has intensified over the past few years, with major players using a combination of strategies to grow their share.

East African Breweries Ltd has introduced new products in recent years even though illicit brews that serve the low income earners still hold a chunk of the market.

Keroche’s approach in the past 10 years has been expansion of its capacity to serve a wider market as well as introduction of new products for the various segments.

Introduction of Summit Malt expands its reach to the middle-class for a company that previously concentrated on the low end of the market that has been chipped away by EABL with its cane spirits brand and Senator Keg.

East Africa Breweries Ltd has registered significant growth in lower-end market in the last five years where the brewing giant sells its Senator Keg brand and a range of low priced spirits.

Growth of beer consumption has defied the Alcoholic Drinks Control, Act 2010, that reduced hours for drinking.

Market observers say the future of the alcohol market is bright with more young people imbibing alcoholic drinks earning Sh182 billion for the industry in 2011 an improvement of over Sh165 billion from the previous year. In 2006 the alcoholic drinks industry made Sh109 billion.