Uganda’s Nile Special imports stoke beer war

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.

EABL’s Tusker has 4.2 per cent alcohol content, Pilsner Lager 4.7 per cent, Pilsner Ice 5.2 per cent while Guinness’ alcohol content is 6.5 per cent.

Dominance

SABMiller brews and imports its drinks from Tanzania Breweries Limited (TBL) through Crown Beverages, which they took over after gaining control of family-owned Crown Foods in 2010.

Nile Special is the first brand the beer maker is importing from Uganda. SABMiller, which plans to begin brewing in Kenya in future, said the launch of Nile Special “marks the early stages of quest to cut EABL’s dominance in Kenya.”

Keroche breweries, owned by Kenyan entrepreneur Tabitha Karanja, has also been nibbling at EABL’s dominant share of the Kenyan market since the firm started producing beers about seven years ago.

To achieve this goal, SABMiller has remodelled its Kenyan business, creating the position of general manager.

Anthony Grendon, who was the managing director of Crown Beverages in Kenya, has been promoted to a regional position to oversee business in South Sudan, Kenya and Ethiopia.

Mr Jones, who has worked with the brewer in South Africa for 15 years, was called in to take up the new role in January.

At his last assignment as a district manager in Durban, Mr Jones handled a region whose beer market is over seven times the size of SABMiller’s business in Kenya.

“We are coming into the Kenyan market as the challenger against very capable competitors (EABL) and for us to make inroads we really have to apply ourselves,” said Mr Jones.