Corporate News
Crown Beverage Kenya managing director, Gareth Jones. Photo/DIANA NGILA
By Mugambi Mutegi
UK-based brewer SABMiller’s experience of doing
business in Kenya has been anything but smooth. It made a decision in
the late 1990s to enter East Africa’s largest economy through a business
partnership with local brewer East African Breweries Limited (EABL)
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But the deal soon fell apart, forcing SABMiller to shut down its Thika plant and exit Kenya in 2002.
Eight years later, the brewer took control of
family-owned Crown Beverages Limited — the bottlers of Keringet drinking
water— making a quiet re-entry into the Kenyan market.
SABMiller has since launched several beer brands
in Kenya, unsettling a market that is dominated by its
partner-turned-rival, EABL.
The range of beers that SABMiller has introduced
in Kenya include Castle Lager, Castle Milk Stout, Redds, Castle Lite and
US brand Miller Genuine Draft.
Business Daily’s Mugambi Mutegi talked to
Crown Beverage Kenya managing director, Gareth Jones on SABMiller’s
return to a market it only left a few years ago and how it plans to
crack it this time around.
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Not much is known about SABMiller’s operations in Kenya. How big is your operations here and how do you fit into it?
I am the general manager, for Kenya operations.
This is a new position that was created in the second half of last year
with me as the first occupant. Previously, we had a managing director in
Kenya.
He was promoted to become the managing director of
SABMiller’s challenger markets. These are countries like South Sudan,
Kenya and Ethiopia where we have a relatively small market share and are
seeking to build scale. That restructuring required somebody to step in
and look after the Kenyan market, hence my appointment.
Our entire Kenyan team is based in Ruiru where we recently rented an office and warehouse.
How long have you worked for SABMiller?
I have been working for SABMiller for 15 years and
my last assignment was in Durban where I was a district manager, a
distribution and sales role.
In terms of scale, the market I was handling in South Africa is more than seven times the size of SABMiller’s business in Kenya.
Now that you have touched on comparisons, how different is the Kenyan business environment from that market?
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