Uganda’s Nile Special imports stoke beer war

Corporate News

Crown Beverages Kenya chief executive Gareth Jones displays a bottle of Nile Special during an interview at his Ruiru office on Wednesday. Photo/DIANA NGILA 

By MUGAMBI MUTEGI, pmutegi@ke.natiomedia.com

In Summary

• SABMiller introduces brand, one of Uganda’s most popular, into the Kenyan market.
• The move is set to revive rivalry between SABMiller and East African Breweries Limited; the two dominant beer makers in the region.
• SABMiller has been importing Nile Special from Uganda for the past one month, pricing the drink up to Sh30 lower than Tusker, EABL’s flagship beer.

London-based brewer SABMiller has raised the competition bar with the introduction of Nile Special, one of Uganda’s most popular beers, in the Kenyan market.

The move is set to revive rivalry between SABMiller and East African Breweries Limited; the two dominant beer makers in the region.

SABMiller has been importing Nile Special from Uganda for the past one month, pricing the drink up to Sh30 lower than Tusker, EABL’s flagship beer.

“When Nile Special was introduced in Western Kenya, it quickly became apparent that the brand had wide acceptance across a diverse consumer group,” said Crown Beverages Kenya managing director Gareth Jones in an interview.

“Following this success, we decided to expand the brand’s footprint and make it available nationally from March this year,” he added.

The beer, which is brewed at SABMiller’s Nile Breweries located in Jinja, has been selling in Kisumu and its environs since late last year on a pilot basis.

Crown Beverages Limited, bottlers of Keringet drinking water and a subsidiary of SABMiller, is now distributing the beer nationwide from distribution sites in Mombasa, Nairobi, Molo and Nyeri.

Nile Special marks the first major beer launch by SABMiller in Kenya since 2012 when it re-introduced Castle Milk Stout to take on EABL’s Guinness beer.

EABL had a week earlier launched Snapp, an apple-flavoured alcoholic drink positioned to win market share from Redds, a SABMiller brand.

The almost simultaneous product launches reflected the intense battle between the two brewers which dates back more than a decade with the building of Castle Breweries production plant in Thika.

In recent years EABL has introduced brands like Tusker Lite, Balozi, Pilsner Ice and Windhoek while SABMiller shored up its portfolio with Castle Lite and Miller Genuine Draft.

SABMiller also rebranded Redds (it is now available in a bottle) and, in July last year, introduced Redds Vodka Lemon.

Mr Jones said the pricing of Nile Special, “its quality” and alcohol level — which is higher than most premium beers — are bound to shore up the brand’s popularity.

“In a bar that sells mainstream brands like Tusker or Castle Lager at Sh150, a consumer can expect to buy a Nile Special at between Sh120 and Sh130,” said Mr Jones.

“Nile Special is therefore more affordable.” Its alcohol content is 5.6 per cent while Castle Lager and Castle Milk Stout have five per cent and six per cent content respectively.